OUR HISTORY
Pictured above: Project SOAR & HACLA Staff together at SoCal CAN's Celebration Event in January 2023.
Project SOAR is a dynamic cross-sector partnership between the Southern California College Attainment Network (SoCal CAN) and the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA)
In Fall 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released a Notice of Funding Available (NOFA) for public housing authorities to place college counselors on public housing sites as part of HUD’s demonstration program, Project SOAR (Students + Opportunities + Achievements = Results). HACLA invited SoCal CAN to jointly respond to this opportunity and Los Angeles went on to become one of nine cities across the country selected to serve as a Project SOAR site. Rather than venturing into the unknown territory of college advising, HACLA turned to college access experts. SoCal CAN brought its deep expertise on what it takes to support low-income students and families to and through college.
Project SOAR Los Angeles was originally launched with a two-year grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HACLA served as the grant recipient and SoCal CAN was contracted by HACLA to implement the program. During the grant period, HUD conducted a randomized controlled trial study of the work conducted on the public housing sites in the 9 selected cities to determine whether having a college counselor on site providing support to residents increased the likelihood of attending college. Throughout the pilot project, three SoCal CAN member organizations played an instrumental role in lending their expertise to this project: College Access Plan provided the 9-12th grade curriculum that was implemented and adapted to meet Project SOAR's needs; SOAR partnered with UNITE-LA’s LA Cash for College to ensure that students and families completed the FAFSA; and Families in Schools trained the Project SOAR team on how to engage parents and caring adults in the college-planning process.
After the initial 2-year pilot project and funding came to end, SoCal CAN secured private funding to continue to provide Project SOAR at the public housing sites. Over the last six years, SoCal CAN has continued to sustain Project SOAR and continuously adjust the program as needed to best meet resident needs. We have also developed dynamic relationships with the other service providers at the housing sites so that we can make warm referrals to one another, thereby providing residents with the wrap-around support they need. Based on our outcomes and innovative approach, Project SOAR Los Angeles has been recognized as a national model by HUD, the Coalition for Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) and The Kresge Foundation.
