Alphonso Scholarship Fund, Inc. (ASF) is an emerging Florida Not-for-Profit 501(c)3 corporation that facilitates summer reading and socioemotional programming to fifth-grade students in rural Jamaica with the goal of increasing youth socio-emotional and literacy skills. Founded in 2018 and later incorporated in August 2020, ASF works to fulfill its mission to “bridge the achievement gap for children in rural communities of Jamaica”. The day-to-day operations of ASF are primarily funded through individual giving and by the contributions of its founding board of directors made up of three volunteers with successful experience in child welfare, social services, and education. The work of the organization is further strengthened by an international team of both sporadic and permanent interns and professional volunteers.
In designing its programs, Alphonso Scholarship Fund, Inc. followed the framework of primary prevention principles from the Community Health field. Thus, key pursuits of ASF include an emphasis on community engagement and education. The main activity of ASF is the Alphonso Summer Literacy Camp which comprises a scholarship incentive for enrolled children and outreach initiatives to support the community at large.
The Alphonso Summer Literacy Camp is a pilot program of an eight-week intensive and enrichment reading curriculum featuring social-emotional learning (SEL) components for students. Differentiated instruction is used to meet individualized SMART goals developed for each child upon initial assessments prior to camp commencement. Enrolled youths are also provided with meals throughout the camp and all scholastic materials are given to ensure that there is no cost to families. Scholarships are awarded to children previously enrolled in the ASF Summer Literacy Camp to support their transition into secondary school- as the associated cost of further education is a common impediment for low-income families. ASF also partners with organizations to facilitate community initiatives, such as back-to-school drives and community gardens, which encourage community engagement and provide opportunities for students, families, and community members to work together.
Infamous with the characteristics of a developing country, children in Jamaica from rural households that are at or below the poverty line exhibit a heightened predisposition to experiencing complex privations. This narrative is frequently multigenerational and has a linear correlation to inequitable access to education and delays in the development of prosocial skills. ASF was founded with an awareness of these challenges, noting the potential for primary preventative measures such as community engagement and education, to mitigate such paradigms. ASF is powered by the core belief that education is the best form of primary prevention. Therefore, with the rapid incline of violent crime rates, cost of living, and a wide array of barriers to pursuing higher education, Alphonso Scholarship Fund, Inc. has a goal of expanding its reach across the land of wood and water.