Community Foundation & YMCA Team Up to Help Kids “Imagine Early”

By: Joanne Case

The Community Foundation and the YMCA of Wabash County share a commitment to education as an effective means to high-paying jobs, opportunities, and a good quality of life. Both organizations are dedicated to empowering children to reach their full potential. Now, the YMCA and the Foundation are teaming up to make possible all students’ participation in Imagine Early, a bold, future-focused early award scholarship program.

About Imagine Early

Wabash County residents will recognize elements of Imagine Early from previous programs or earlier iterations, known as Wabash County Promise, the Early Award Scholarship Program, and Promise Scholarships. Now serving pre-K through 8th grade students under the name Imagine Early, the program offers scholarships and savings matches each nine weeks for attendance, completion of schoolwork, and saving. Students who complete all in-school assignments and earn all matches for family savings can accumulate up to $1,500 over their ten years in the program, to finance training and education beyond high school.

Encouraging Future Aspirations

The combined assets held at the Community Foundation for participating students total over $1.3 million in early award scholarships. Nearly 150 high school graduates have already used their Imagine Early scholarships to pay qualified post-secondary expenses.

In addition to holding assets for later use, Imagine Early encourages students to imagine their futures early in life, complete their in-school assignments, and prepare for education after high school. Ongoing research by the University of Michigan’s Center for Assets, Education, and Inclusion has found that participation in Imagine Early positively impacts students’ test scores, college-bound identity, social-emotional health, savings behaviors, and grades.

Enrollment Information

Families of students in Wabash County schools are invited to enroll at imagine-early.org. New enrollees will receive a bonus from the YMCA for their Imagine Early Scholarship Fund. It pays to start early!