Rachel Elginsmith

More than 100,000 children live in poverty in the San Francisco Bay Area. Because low-income families are left with no choice other than the one their zip code gives them, these children are too often stuck in an education system that fails to educate them, or even keep them safe. The BASIC Fund provides a way out for thousands of children every year. Founded in 1998, we are privately funded and aim to broaden the educational opportunities for low-income children through scholarships to the PreK-8 school of their choice. The BASIC Fund currently supports more than 3,500 students attending 249 private schools each year. We are a non-sectarian organization: parents choose the school for their children, not the BASIC Fund. Having supported over 26,000 students so far, it is the largest non-sectarian scholarship organization in the U.S. and a partner of Children's Scholarship Fund, a national coalition of scholarship organizations around the country. Scholarships are up to $2,750 per student/year, based on a sliding scale of household income and size. The students must be admitted to the school they choose, but there is otherwise no merit component. Once a family qualifies financially all siblings are included. Students receiving a BASIC Fund scholarship will continue to receive it through the 8th grade, regardless of when they began receiving the scholarship. The BASIC Fund also provides resources for families through our partnerships with other local organizations, these include vocational, after school programs, academic tutoring, mentoring and summer school options.