His organization, the Student Freedom Initiative recently announced their partnership with Prudential Financial who is providing $1.8 million in microgrants to HBCU students. According to a news release, Prudential will also provide paid internships and pro bono services to enable improved financial literacy for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) families and students.
Smith and Prudential will launch the Handling Everyday Life Problems for Students (HELPS) grant program to address the unexpected, one-time expenses that disproportionately face Black students.“
Over 75% of HBCU are considered low-income, relying on Pell Grants to meet their college expenses. Many of these students have unexpected expense come up that are not covered by Pell and they typically can’t call home to family to cover them, said Smith.
The Student Freedom Initiatives’s HELPS grant program launched this semester.