News 2026
Yes We Must Coalition receives two-year $248,820 grant from ECMC Foundation to support incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students
The Yes We Must Coalition is pleased to share that we have received a two-year grant from the ECMC Foundation to support “creating a network of Yes We Must Coalition schools collaborating to increase success for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students.”
Thirteen Yes We Must Coalition member schools will be involved. Exemplar facilitators will be from our own membership. Benedict College (SC), College Unbound (RI), and Mercy University (NY), which have outstanding programs already in place, will help lead the work, sharing effective approaches/programs for and challenges experienced in engaging and supporting incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students. Nine additional YWMC members will participate to create their own plans for reaching these students, including Blackburn College (IL), Ferrum College (VA), Heritage University (WA), Mars Hill University (NC), Metropolitan College of New York (NY), Mount Saint Mary’s University (CA), Point University (GA), Saint Elizabeth University (NJ), and Trocaire College (NY).
The project will include an in-person convening at Mercy University with project leaders from the experienced exemplar schools and justice-impacted students sharing insights and resources with teams from the participating Coalition schools. Through collaborative discussion and campus team planning, each team will craft the initial framework of an action plan to transform their institution’s support for incarcerated and/or formerly incarcerated students. After the gathering, participants will meet virtually in Communities of Practice to continue to learn, share, and support each other as they work to revise their plans and discover ways they can collaborate across institutions to strengthen the work.
All schools participating have indicated that serving incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students is a reflection of their institutional commitment to success in higher education for those from poverty. YWMC is grateful to ECMC Foundation for supporting this important project, helping our member schools to better serve justice-impacted people and extend the well-established benefits of higher education to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students.