California State University, Northridge has received a $260,000 grant from the CREA Foundation to help alleviate financial barriers for undergraduate students from affordable housing communities.

The grant will support the creation of The CREA Scholars Program at CSUN, a scholarship fund for incoming freshmen who also qualify for the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), Milt and Debbie Valera Resilient Scholars Program (RSP) and/or the Trio Program at CSUN.

“These funds will allow historically low income, educationally disadvantaged, first- generation college students from affordable housing communities to stay focused on school rather than working more hours than they should,” said Shiva Parsa, the director of the Educational Opportunity Program at CSUN. 

“The services EOP provides caters to these students – a population that not only reflects the diversity of CSUN’s feeder communities, but also the diversity of the university itself. Through this generous gift and close collaboration with CREA, we will work together to make a difference in students’ lives and their communities,” Parsa continued.

CREA Foundation is an extension of the work which Indiana-headquartered company CREA LLC. does to provide a safe place to call home through affordable housing access for low-income families across the nation, CREA Foundation Executive Director Arvetta Jideonwo said. 

“CREA Foundation has made a great investment in impacting the community around us,” Jideonwo said. “By working to disrupt the cycles of poverty that impact low-income students from affordable housing communities, we’re not only investing in their success, but also supporting it through providing comprehensive wraparound services delivered by the Educational Opportunity Program.”

The CREA Scholars Program at CSUN will award scholarships and wraparound services to 20 first-year students, providing on average $5000 annually, which can be renewed for up to four years. The donation has also been matched by the CSUN Foundation’s Matador Match Challenge at a 1:1 ratio, which has allowed the program to serve 20 first-year students in Fall 2023

Jideonwo said CSUN – with its diverse student body 70% of which are the first in their families to go to college– is an “ideal” partner for the foundation to expand on the CREA Scholars Program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). She also added that CREA LLC’s Co-President, Charles Anderson, and its Account Manager Vice President, Asia Williams, are CSUN alumni.

The Educational Opportunity Program will collaborate with CREA Foundation in providing support that extends beyond material academic resources. In addition, a portion of the funds will be used to hire a CREA Scholars Student Support Specialist at CSUN.

Applications for the CREA Scholars Program at CSUN will be released on, April 1, 2023.

To make a donation to the university or to support CSUN’s CREA Scholars Program, contact Jerry De Felice, director of development in the Division of Student Affairs, at (818) 677-3935 or [email protected].