CHARLOTTE (June 30, 2022) – The Bridge to Careers program at Central Piedmont Community College provides Black and Hispanic/Latino students tuition, fees, books and materials.

But it provides a lot more, says Central Piedmont President Kandi Deitemeyer.

“What I love about this program just beyond the financial capacity … is the wraparound services that we provide,” Deitemeyer says in the accompanying video.

Every student gets an advisor and mentor. “They really learn how to navigate not only an institution of higher learning, but they also learn how to navigate life,” Deitemeyer says.

Students learn from their mentors about the soft skills employers expect in the workplace. The college has a clothes closet to supply students with a suit or a dress to wear to their first interview, for example.

Some students struggle with food or housing, so the college has a food pantry and an office of Single Stop, a nonprofit that helps students find a variety of services. 

“Anything that they need in order to feel a whole person, to show up and feel supported as they are making the steps across that bridge,” Deitemeyer says.