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| Coley Stone at Granby High, his alma mater. |
But, perhaps our best successes revolve around the 4,000-plus individuals helped by college scholarships made possible by our donors since 1951.
Just the other day we spotted a Facebook post from our former scholarship recipient Coley Stone. Today Coley works in Rotterdam, The Netherlands as a customer care and logistics specialists for Galderama, a global dermatology company. He is fluent in English, French and Dutch and also can converse comfortably with clients in Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Mandarin Chinese.
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| Robert & Ettie Cunningham -- Coley's benefactors |
A second chance came Coley's way after attending a Norfolk alternative school. He returned to middle school and went on to graduate on time in 2001 from Norfolk's Granby High School where he was elected prom king. In high school he overcame family issues, held down a restaurant job to support himself, lived in a group home and was homeless his senior year before moving in with the school office manager and her family. His ACCESS College Foundation advisor helped him prepare for college and find the resources to pay for it.
Coley went to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond with help from our J. Robert and Ettie Fearing Cunningham Memorial Scholarship and a Lincoln-Lane Foundation scholarship. During the four years Coley was on scholarship at college he discovered his gift for languages and excelled. In 2006 he was selected to carry the processional banner for VCU students at graduation.
Armed with his degree in French and history and an adventuresome spirit Coley headed to Europe after college graduation. He has lived and worked in The Netherlands since 2007. A post on Coley's Facebook page this week featured his 1998 report card from a Norfolk alternative school he attended in eighth grade. The comments section recommended his reinstatement in school and mentioned his "seriousness of purpose."
Coley's 2015 Facebook comment of "God knows I've come a long way" led us to tell him how proud his community foundation family is of him.
His reply: "And you and the foundation made it all happen. For that I am forever grateful."
We think the Cunninghams, a Norfolk couple who died decades ago, would be proud of Coley and the hundreds of other students their endowed scholarship at the community foundation has helped have better lives. Ettie Cunningham's 1992 estate gift created the permanent scholarship fund for Norfolk students or those from Hampton Roads who want to be teachers. There are more than 15 Cunningham Scholars in college right now and an endless procession of them will follow in years to come.
As Coley Stone says: "Despite the obstacles, I believe that everyone can achieve their goals if they keep a positive attitude and have support from the community. It has changed my life and I'll never forget."
(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is among nearly 750 community foundation around the country serving specific geographic regions. It is the largest grant and scholarship provider in southeastern Virginia and manages more than 400 charitable funds created by donors from all walks of life. Over the decades it has provided more than $210 million to improve life for residents living in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, including the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Smithfield, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. It also serves people in Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, including Accomack and Northampton counties. Learn more at hamptonroadscf.org. You can click here to locate a community foundation near you. )
