LOYA - Lake Oconee Youth Alliance - Making College Dreams Come True For Our Local Students

Lake Oconee Youth Alliance, or LOYA, is an amazing organization serving Greene & Putnam County students. From modest beginnings, the 501c3 organization has grown into a formidable group of community volunteers who uniquely fill a widening gap, for our local students, by providing mentoring and financial assistance, before & during, their post secondary education journey. Denine Hagen & Jonathon Meister both serve on the Board of Directors and are my guests on the show today. Of course, we will talk about each of their personal stories of what "lured" them to the lake from the west coast. But we will focus mainly on this wonderful organization as they will explain the work it does and the gaps it fills for these students. They tell us about the two main areas the Alliance works in: mentoring students to assist them with everything they need to know and understand in their journey toward college & financial assistance in terms of scholarship awards. With costs of both college & living rapidly increasing, it has become challenging for many students in our area to attend college, which is exactly what LOYA assists with! We will talk about what success looks like for the organization and some actual examples of accomplishments. Having now served over 500 students and awarded 42 four-year scholarships, they ARE making a huge difference! You will be amazed at the inspiring 93% college retention rates they are experiencing with the students they assist! They will also tell us what the community can do to assist, there are many opportunities to join or support the efforts and would love to talk to you about how you might contribute. LOYA is another beautiful example of work being done right here in the community that will impact & change lives, not just for these students, but for generations to come! Guest: Lake Oconee Youth Alliance (LOYA) https://www.lakeoconeeyouthalliance.com/ Denine Hagen - [email protected] Jonathon Meister - [email protected] Sponsor - Lake Oconee Bistro https://www.lakeoconeebistro.com/