Rich in community

As higher education costs skyrocket, students often grapple with difficult decisions about paying for college.

Should they take out loans? Rely on scholarships or grants? Work part-time and pay out of pocket?

In making the transition from a freshly minted high school graduate, they’re daunting options.

Kimmi Nettles, scholarship manager at Cumberland Community Foundation, a nonprofit that funds a variety of community betterment projects, knows firsthand how intimidating navigating the college financial system can be. In the process of going to college, she said she was never aware of scholarship opportunities — now, she’s aiming to change that in Cumberland County.

In her new role, she works to ensure that students in this community carry a lighter financial burden as they pursue their post-high school education.

“My goal is to make sure that every student in a Cumberland County school knows about the scholarship program,” Kimmi said, smiling through her dark-rimmed glasses.

Daughters of a single mother, Kimmi and her twin sister Kim, had to pave their own way through school at Troy University in Alabama, taking out student loans, working part-time jobs, and relying on Pell Grants.

“I did not have a scholarship and I can imagine how much easier my college life would have been,” Kimmi said. She also navigated her first two years of college without a car, relying on rides from friends to get to class.

Reflecting on her experiences, she emphasized how easy it would have been to give up on the goal of graduation.

Kimmi persisted, and along with her sister, became the first in their family to earn college degrees. She can still recall the pride she saw in her parents after she crossed the stage with the class of 2000, earning a degree in business with a concentration in marketing.

Receiving a scholarship can be a gift to a student and their family, she maintains, and can help to alleviate a lot of financial stress brought on by the expenses of higher education. Through her work, Kimmi also showcases the importance of access to scholarship resources for students, believing those resources can help to change the community and the world.

Through her role at the foundation — which she began in June 2024 after former Scholarship Manager Susan Barnes retired — Kimmi works with the students who are applying and the scholarship committee members who make the selections. One scholarship, established in honor of the 90th birthday of Janie Chavis Lucas, a Cumberland County resident, is awarded to high school seniors who are active in at least two school organizations. The scholarship has helped four students go to college so far. Scholarships such as this highlight the hyper-local impact that community members have on the students of Cumberland County.

“We have donors who are not rich in wealth, but rich in community, rich in faith, and rich in love for the Cumberland County community,” Kimmi said.

CCF President/CEO Mary Holmes described Kimmi as “fun, funny, smart and capable,” saying she knows the foundation’s donors and grantees — “and how to help them achieve their goals.”

“She understands our donors because she is very generous herself,” Holmes said, pointing out that Kimmi created an endowment in memory of her mother that sends children in need to summer camp. “Now, she’s the perfect person to lead our scholarship program. She’s well-organized and knows how to run a good program. Kimmi put herself through college, so she knows how important scholarship awards can be to students. She is very motivated to make the world a better place.”

By advocating for students and ensuring donor’s wishes are carried out, Kimmi and a panel of scholarship recipient selection members, who are trained to select awardees in an unbiased way and adhere to each scholarship donor’s guidelines, work to enable many students who may not have otherwise had the opportunity, to pursue their degrees.

Through over $1 million awarded this year across more than 60 scholarships, FAFSA enrollment events, and community outreach efforts, Kimmi highlights the impact that these resources can have on students, and shows that Cumberland County is full of people who are kind, care about each other, and want to help better the community for future generations.

Read CityView Magazine’s “Back to School” August 2024 e-edition here.