Deadline fast approaching for Black women's financial aid program

ATLANTA - Time is running out for Black women in College Park to apply to a new financial assistance program that could give each of them more than $20,000-- no questions asked.

It's a new expansion of the largest guaranteed income program in the southeast called "The Gro Fund," but the deadline for this opportunity is this Sunday, August 28.

If selected as one of hundreds of recipients, you'll receive $850 cash-- every month-- for two years. Organizers say they hope this helps some of the most vulnerable Black women get ahead.

Hope Wollensack says her mother went to college, but that wasn't the one size fits all path for success.

"A lot of the things we associate with someone who graduated from college, especially for Black communities, that just isn't the case," she said.

She's now the Executive Director for the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity-- or GRO Fund. The "In Her Hands" branch gives hundreds of black women $850 monthly for 2 years-- no questions asked.

According to a 2021 Goldman Sachs study, Black women make less in the labor market and face job-related economic disadvantages.

We first told you about "In Her Hands" and its namesake's inspiration from a Martin Luther King Jr. speech in February.

At the time, Wollensack was taking applicants in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward. The program has since expanded to southwest Georgia.

"A lot of people have (used In Her Hands funds to purchase) a better used car that allows them to get to work or school more reliably, buy new school clothes," Wollensack explained.

By the end of this week, the College Park application will close.

Mayor Bianca Motley Broom says her city is a natural fit for the program's mission and hopes you don't let this opportunity pass.

"Our community us 87% African American with a high number of single parent households," she said. "Black women are a key component of our city."

"Most people, especially with low incomes, are pretty financially savvy with what they have. They know the price of gas at three different stations," Wollensack said. "But this will help those who cannot make ends meet."

Budgeting is one thing, she says, but "In Her Hands" aims at giving those in over their heads an opportunity to come up for air.

Recipients are selected through a lottery system.

To receive the funds, you must identify as woman, be 18 years or older and live in College Park at or twice below the federal poverty line. The application closes this Sunday at 11:59 pm. To apply, click here.