1,000 Scholarships and Counting - For 40 years, John Crawford has helped youth in public housing attend college.
What's Next for this one-of-a-kind Charlotte scholarship?
John Crawford and Christopher Davis meet in west Charlotte. Christopher lived in multiple public housing developments and became one of 1,000 students Crawford helped over the past 40 years.
Charlotte, NC (May 2024 - by Lisa Vernon Sparks) — Sometime in the early 1970s, John Crawford received an offer he couldn't refuse.
The Charlotte Housing Authority approached him about a job working with families and children who lived in its dozens of complexes. Crawford, then a school teacher and coach, loved working with children. It was a natural fit and he accepted the offer.
But early in the gig, Crawford saw things he found troubling - prostitution, drug dealing and teens overdosing at some of the properties, making it an unsafe environment, he said.
"I wanted to change that," he said.
His method didn't surface until 1982 when a college-age resident reached out to him, the youth services director, asking for money to help finish school.
That's when Crawford realized the need and saw a way to give youth living in public housing more control over their destinies.
It evolved into the Greater Steps Scholars, a scholarship fund wich after 40 years has reached a notable milestone - 1,000 students living in public housing who have been awarded scholarships.
Many came from impoverished backgrounds whose families may not otherwise have been able to shoulder the heft cost of higher education. For some already making a plan for college, this scholarship was a welcomed boost.
It's the only program of its kind in Charlotte, says Aisha Strothers, the executive director of the $5 million endowment now managed by The Foundation For the Carolinas. The goal is to ultimately get to $10 million.
"The big thing here is the programming that we provide, that assists these children," said Cecil Burrowes, The Greater Steps Scholars board chairman. "We can give you scholarships, that's great. That gets you into the school. What happens while you're in the school?"
The program began as the Charlotte Housing Authority Scholarship Fund, which was among many at the housing authority - renamed Inlivian in 2019 - to support economic mobility for the hundreds of families living in public housing, CEO and president Fulton Meachem told the Charlotte Observer.
The housing authority has financially partnered with Crawford and the scholar fund since it began.
"The reason that John reached out to our residents, is because we all know that their zip code, you know, doesn't define the destination," Meachem said...
###
About Dr. John T. Crawford
As the founder of Greater Steps Scholars in 1983, Dr. John T. Crawford has devoted more than 40 years to using education to empower Charlotte's marginalized youth. His own story served as a catalyst for the program's development, which has awarded over $4.4 million in awards to 1,000 deserving individuals, enabling them to succeed in a range of academic subjects at esteemed institutions and breaking the cycle of poverty.