Learning 4 Life Services

Onward We Learn (formerly known as the College Crusade of Rhode Island) is an innovative nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to reduce high school dropout rates and increase educational and career success for low-income urban youth. Each year they serve approximately 4,200 students from Rhode Island's most economically disadvantaged families in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Woonsocket, and Cranston. Onward We Learn combines the steady, nurturing presence of caring adults with a rich array of programs that focus on academic enrichment, social and personal development, career awareness and exploration, and preparation for postsecondary education. Onward We Learn assists L4L in outreach and recruitment of Scholars as well as providing an Onward College Success Coach to serve students 4 days a week in the L4L space during the academic year.

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College Visions empowers low-income and first-generation college-bound students to realize the promise of higher education by providing advising and resources to promote college enrollment, persistence, and graduation. College Visions advances equal access to educational opportunities in historically under-served communities. College Visions team member’s serves as a Community Navigators, providing one-to-one support to students at RIC who have also been part of the College Visions Success Program.

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The Navigator model of student support was developed in partnership with the School of Social Work. The model includes a training curriculum that includes social work principles at its foundation. Though Navigators represent other related fields to social work, most are social work majors serving as Navigator interns. The SSW field office and faculty supervisor for the interns, Dr. Jennifer Meade, coordinate the selection of interns and ongoing support.

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The Unity Center is the Rhode Island College multicultural center. Its mission is to promote the accessibility of educational services and the opportunity for excellence to all students through collaborative programming among its student affiliates, faculty, staff and the wider community. The Unity Center served as the first main hub for Learning for Life, providing an opportunity to reach out to students in one of the hearts of student activity on campus. The Unity Center provided space and a founding presence for L4L. Since this early partnership that began in 2012, the Unity Center and L4L have worked together on multiple initiatives to: create a student resource area to bring needed campus and community services to students in a comfortable, safe drop-in space; advance the Center’s textbook lending library; and provide leadership development opportunities for students.

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RIC Partners

• Career Development Center
• Disabilities Services Center
• Financial Aid Office
• Office of Student Life
• Preparatory Enrollment Program (PEP) 

External Partners

• CASO RI
• Children's Friend
• Central Falls Pawtucket Housing Development
• DUNAMIS Synergy Initiative, West Elmwood Housing Development Corp.
• House of Hope
• SNAP Outreach Worker
• Sojourner House
• Panera Bread
• NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley
• New Urban Arts
• RIC A. L. L. I. E. D.- the Advanced Learning and Leadership Initiative for Educational Diversity
• RI Student Loan Authority
• We Share Hope