Seventy years ago, famed poet Langston Hughes wrote the poem "Harlem." The first line of the poem asked, "What happens to a dream deferred?" For too many years, undocumented individuals in our country have had to defer their dreams, and this scholarship hopes to change that.

The A Dream Decided (ADD) Scholarship was created to support the dreams of undocumented graduate-level counselors-in-training. The ADD Scholarship hopes to encourage undocumented counselors-in-training to pursue their decided dream of becoming a counselor by offering some financial assistance during their educational journey. There are over 400,000 undocumented students in higher education who are pursuing their dreams despite the obstacles that come from their documentation status, including a lack of access to federal aid. We want to help support these students by easing the financial burden that comes with graduate school.

The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), the NBCC Foundation, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have supported many individuals in achieving their personal, academic, and career goals. These organizations believe in supporting underserved populations, and they have supported our efforts in doing the same. For this reason, we have decided to begin a giving circle dedicated to undocumented graduate students in counselor education programs.

Please consider a donation to support a scholarship for an undocumented or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) graduate student in a counselor education program. Every dollar donated to the ADD Scholarship Giving Circle will go directly to fund this scholarship. The goal is to raise $8,000 to provide one fully funded scholarship through the NBCC Foundation. Learn more about how the ADD Giving Circle began in a recent Foundation Connections spotlight. 

Thank you for your support, 

Kirsis Dipre (2020 NBCC Minority Fellowship Program Recipient)

Diana Gallardo (2021 NBCC Minority Fellowship Program Recipient)

Pamela Fullerton (2021 NBCC Minority Fellowship Program Recipient)

The NBCC Foundation works to improve the mental health of the underserved and never-served throughout the world by leveraging the power of counseling by strategically focusing resources for positive change. Scholarships, fellowships, and capacity-building grants, are our primary tools for accomplishing our objectives. The Foundation's strategy is to award scholarships to individuals pursuing careers as professional counselors who are affiliated with high-priority populations and commit to serving them after graduation. Capacity-building grants fund expansion efforts to increase mental health resources in rural and underserved communities where access to mental health care is extremely limited.

Since 2010, the NBCC Foundation has awarded over $875,000 in scholarships and over $9 million in grant-funded fellowships to master's- and doctoral-level counseling students committed to working with underserved communities around the world. 

Help us continue to support counselors and future counselors bridge the gap in mental health services for those most in need. 

To learn more about our programs and our current scholars and fellows, visit our website.