For two decades, the University of California, Berkeley has operated a program designed to support students who have experienced foster care or housing insecurity. The initiative, now called Hope Scholars, began in 2005 with just one student and one staff member. It has since grown into a team of four full-time employees who have assisted more than 360 students over the years, including 170 in the most recent year.
Tristan Lombard was among the early participants. In 2006, as a teenager with an unstable background that included multiple high schools and periods of homelessness, he initially suspected the program’s outreach was fraudulent. However, he later credited the university’s investment for changing his life trajectory: “If the university had not invested in someone like me and given me the financial aid, given me just some bed sheets, a welcome week, my life could have gone a very different route,” said Lombard.
The program’s founders include Michelle Kniffin and Deborah Lowe Martinez. Kniffin started it after learning about a foster youth arriving at Berkeley alone without basic necessities. She leveraged her experience in university housing to secure resources for these students and found allies within campus leadership and faculty.
Today, Hope Scholars extends its services beyond those from foster care to anyone not raised by biological parents—including orphans and individuals raised by relatives. Charly King Beavers currently directs the program; she herself was orphaned young and raised by family members. Under her leadership since 2020, enrollment tripled between 2020 and 2022 as offerings expanded to graduate students.
Hope Scholars provides various forms of support: peer mentorships; access to financial advice; mental health services; academic counseling (including from former Hope Scholar Rebeca Borges); material assistance such as move-in packages and stipends ($3,000 for first-year students; $2,000 for subsequent years); community-building events; courses introducing on-campus resources; adult mentors; networking opportunities with professionals; internship placements; funds for professional expenses like clothing or test fees; and specialized programming for graduate students.
Peer advisor Alexis Wood described how difficult her own transition to college was after entering foster care at age ten: “I just had no concept of what a college experience even looked like.” She eventually became involved with Hope Scholars during graduate school to help others navigate similar challenges.
Current senior Erick Mendes serves as another peer adviser while double majoring in political science and business administration. He entered foster care at age five following his parents’ arrest before being adopted at ten. Mendes is set to become the first in his biological family to earn a college degree: “People who grew up in the foster care system … aren’t supposed to succeed,” he said. “People here are spectacular and have beaten all the odds.”
At its recent anniversary celebration held in November 2025, alumni spoke candidly about their experiences overcoming adversity with support from Hope Scholars. Sonia Aldape credited the program both for helping her academically when she was on probation as an undergraduate—and inspiring her career path toward becoming a therapist: “It is also one of the reasons I ultimately became a therapist because I saw the great impact it had simply being an emotionally supportive space.”
During this event Beavers announced that Hope Scholars would be expanding its office space at UC Berkeley’s César Chavez Student Center due to increased demand.
Reflecting on two decades of work supporting non-traditional students at UC Berkeley, Beavers stated: “Hope is not a passive word; it’s not something to wait for. It’s something we build every day together. It’s what carried our students through uncertainty and challenge. It’s what turned this small program into a legacy.”
