Bunker Hill Community College Administrator Honored by The Boston Foundation
Monday, December 2, 2013
Dr. Kathleen O’Neill has been recognized by the Boston Foundation with a Change Maker Award for her work as director of Bunker Hill Community College’s Single Stop program. The program connects low-income students to existing resources that help them stay in school and earn a degree.
O’Neill has headed the Single Stop program from its inception at Bunker Hill Community College in 2011. Since then, Single Stop has served 5,577 students; the value in benefits and services they have accessed through the program exceeds $6.3 million. The 2,544 students who have filed their incomes taxes through Single Stop’s free assistance program have received more than $3.8 million in refunds and savings. Dr. Pam Eddinger, President of Bunker Hill Community College, said of Single Stop, “I don’t know what many of our students would do without it.”
The Change Maker Award goes to people making contributions that help Bostonians to thrive. The Boston Foundation chose to honor O’Neill, said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO, for her work as a “compassionate and skilled advocate for the students of Bunker Hill Community College through her work with Single Stop.” The award was presented to O’Neill at the Foundation’s annual meeting on November 21.
“The number one reason students drop out of community college is money,” said O’Neill. The Single Stop program at Bunker Hill Community College is part of a national initiative to help students stay in college by connecting them to federal financial resources and local community services.
The Boston Foundation, the largest foundation of its kind in New England, has helped support Bunker Hill Community College’s Single Stop program since 2011.
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About Bunker Hill Community College
With more than 50 years of academic excellence, Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is Massachusetts' largest community college, annually welcoming a diverse community of around 16,000 students. With campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, BHCC extends its reach across several locations in Greater Boston. The College offers associate degrees and certificates, early college and dual enrollment, community education, corporate training, and industry-specific training programs. BHCC is celebrated for its diversity, boasting a student body where 65% identify as people of color and more than half are women. The College also embraces a global perspective, with over 600 international students representing 90 countries and conversing in more than 65 languages. Our commitment to diversity is further reflected in BHCC's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).