Background/Mission
When the members of Omega Psi Phi’s Iota Chapter in Chicago created the Friendship Foundation for Education and Community Development, their primary mission was to provide scholarship assistance to at-risk college and high school students. They also had long-range goals of facilitating revitalization projects in poor and underserved communities.
The Foundation’s core scholarship assistance programs benefit high school seniors transitioning into their first year of college. Research by the nation’s leading academic institutions indicates that students from poor families and from traditionally underserved communities are statistically more likely to suffer from adjustment problems in a college setting. This often results in students discontinuing their education. The snowball effect of this occurrence results in fewer and less attractive employment opportunities for the individual leading to a lifetime of related social and economic problems. The community also suffers due to the decreased likelihood that the individual in question will be able to provide much-needed business acumen, professional services (medical, legal, etc.), tax base, institutional support, role modeling and other potential by-products sometimes associated with having a college-educated contributor to the community.
The Foundation also provides support for other educational initiatives including science fairs, musical competitions and college tours as an enhancement to the high school educational experience in order to help students toward their pursuit of post-secondary education.
In addition to educational initiatives, the Friendship Foundation plans to support initiatives associated with the development and redevelopment of poor and underserved communities. In this respect, the Friendship Foundation intends to support initiatives that develop affordable and decent housing opportunities, commercial and industrial business and employment opportunities, job training, social service interventions, beautification, entrepreneurship and raising public perception of African American people.
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