What We Do - The Experience Fellowship - Hendricks Family Foundation

Eligibility & Priorities

Providing life inspiring development opportunities and fostering circles of support for Beloit area youth.

Eligibility

The Experience Fellowship targets those youth who may not be able to pursue their identified interests without fellowship support.

Eligible applicants will be youth (13-19 years of age) from the Stateline Area (Beloit, South Beloit, Roscoe, Rockton and Clinton) who have identified an opportunity and/or been accepted to a program offering a meaningful growth experience. Applicants must be actively engaged with a mentor or supportive adult and proposed fellowship activities must be consistent with Hendricks Family Foundation values.

Priorities

The Experience Fellowship priorities include:

Activities linked to education or career exploration, civic and/or leadership opportunities, mission/volunteer pursuits and artistic/creative endeavors.
Exploration of local and regional opportunities prior to application for support of international activities.
Applicants who have participated in CareerTek education and/or career activities.
Applicants who are not able to undertake activities without Fellowship support.
Applicants who use employment income as a source of support for Fellowship activities.

Eligibility & Priorities

Providing life inspiring development opportunities and circles of support for Beloit area youth.

Eligibility

The Experience Fellowship targets those youth who may not be able to pursue their identified interests without fellowship support.

Priorities

The Experience Fellowship priorities include:

Activities linked to education or career exploration, civic and/or leadership opportunities, mission/volunteer pursuits and artistic/creative endeavors.
Exploration of local and regional opportunities prior to application for support of international activities.
Applicants who have participated in CareerTek education and/or career activities.
Applicants who are not able to undertake activities without Fellowship support.
Applicants who use employment income as a source of support for Fellowship activities.

PENDING Video

The Experience Fellowship acknowledges the right opportunity at the right time can have a profound impact.
The Fellowship provides up to $2,500 to empower youth, 11-19 years of age, to follow their passions and build their skills through an identified opportunity or program offering a meaningful growth experience.
Eligible fellowship activities may be education or career-focused programs, civic or leadership opportunities, mission or volunteer activities, or artistic and creative endeavors. The Fellowship committee does prioritize requests that support post-secondary exploration and decision-making.
Programs suitable for Fellowship awards build upon readily available courses and programs and move fellows beyond their current capabilities to achieve the following objectives:
• Explore or strengthen a self-declared area of interest
• Encourage curiosity and healthy risk-taking
• Increase engagement with positive adults
• Stretch capabilities and build skills
Applicants must be actively engaged with a mentor or supportive adult. Priority may be given to applicants who may not be able to pursue programs without Fellowship support.

For more information about requirements and the two-step application process, visit the Stateline Community Foundation website.

What We Do

The Experience Fellowship

The Experience Fellowship will provide a scholarship award ranging from $200 to $2,500 to empower motivated youth to follow their passions and build their skills. It is developed with an acknowledgement that the right opportunity at the right time can have a profound impact.

What We Do

The Experience Fellowship

Fellowship Activities

Programs suitable for Fellowship awards will achieve the following objectives.

Allow Fellows to explore or strengthen a self-declared area of interest.

Sponsors and supportive adults are encouraged to offer guidance in the selection process and use strategies that foster and support independent choice.

Structured to encourage curiosity and healthy risk-taking.

Adolescent brain research demonstrates the benefit to young people of having safe opportunities to take risks. There are a wide range of ‘risks’ that challenge youth to safely move outside their comfort zone.

Increase engagement with positive adults.

Fellowship activities must provide high quality engagement with responsible adults.

Stretch capabilities and build skills.

We want to encourage Fellows to select opportunities that build upon readily available courses, programs and move them beyond their current capabilities. Think achievable, stretch goals.

Applications for international activities may be considered, however applicants must demonstrate prior participation in local/regional activities.

Fellowship Activities

Programs suitable for Fellowship awards will achieve the following objectives.

Allow Fellows to explore or strengthen a self-declared area of interest.

Sponsors and supportive adults are encouraged to offer guidance in the selection process and use strategies that foster and support independent choice.

Structured to encourage curiosity and healthy risk-taking.

Increase engagement with positive adults.

Fellowship activities must provide high quality engagement with responsible adults.

Stretch capabilities and build skills.

We want to encourage Fellows to select opportunities that build upon readily available courses, programs and move them beyond their current capabilities. Think achievable, stretch goals.

Applications for international activities may be considered, however applicants must demonstrate prior participation in local/regional activities.

Fellowship Award Payment Restrictions

No Fellowship payments will be made directly to an individual or family.
Fellows must be supported by a sponsoring tax exempt, youth service organization who will be the recipient of the funds and work with the Fellow, supporting them in successfully completing their program.
Fellows may not request support for activities provided by the sponsor organization.

Fellowship Application Process

Fellowship Experience applications will be accepted online at any time. To apply for a Fellowship Experience, interested candidates must complete a two-step process.

Step 1 – Complete an initial application to pre-qualify. Be prepared to answer the following questions:

Name of program/activity
Program/activity dates
Brief explanation of program/activity
Describe what you expect to learn from the program/activity
List prior activities and experiences that prepared you for this Experience Fellowship (including any CareerTek program activities and other local and/or regional opportunities you have participated in).
The total cost of the proposed Fellowship activity/program and other sources of support for the activity (employment income, family support, etc.).
If costs exceed the Fellowship award, Fellows must demonstrate they have resources to cover these costs prior to the Fellowship being paid.

Step 2 – Candidates approved and pre-qualified after the completion of the initial application in Step 1, will receive an emailed invitation to submit a full application, which will include the following:

Submission of a letter of recommendation from an adult sponsor (non-family member).
Sponsors must be a volunteer or staff member of a local not-for-profit organization that is willing to accept the Fellowship payment on behalf of the Fellow and support the Fellow in managing program enrollment and payment coordination.
Sponsors must provide confirmation of the Fellow’s acceptance into the requested program and informally verify financial need.

Full applications will be reviewed by a selection committee. Fellow candidates should anticipate a 30 to 60-day wait for award decisions. Candidates will be notified of award decisions by email.

Program Follow-up Requirements

All Fellows are required to submit a final report within 45 days of completion of the fellowship activity. A video, not to exceed 7 minutes, is the preferred report format. However, a 1-2 page, written report is also acceptable. The report should cover:

What the Fellow gained from the experience
Any challenges or accomplishments
How the experience may impact future plans and/or choices

Fellows may be asked to present a report to the Fellowship Committee.

The Application & Approval Process

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For questions regarding The Fellowship Experience or application process, please contact Tammy Kerch at [email protected]

Application Page

The Experience Fellowship is an adapted replication of a successful model that has been provided by the Eva Gunther Foundation. The Eva Foundation’s work is inspired by the life of Eva Gunther, who was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 12 ½.

Her family established the Foundation to remember Eva’s remarkable strengths and to allow other girls to have experiences similar to those Eva had. The Hendricks Family Foundation would like to thank the Eva Foundation team, particularly Eva’s father, Mark Gunther, for sharing their work and supporting our replication.