Make sure your staff knows their college and trade school-bound students are eligible to apply for the Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship. This community-funded program helps college students achieve their dreams. Applicant or applicant’s parent/guardian must be employed or contracted by the California vineyard and winery industry. Easily share how to apply by posting the flyer and including the paycheck inserts (English and Spanish) next payroll. Applications are accepted from February 3 through March 31. Meet Juan The program is named in honor of Juan Nevarez, a beloved member of the Central Coast winegrape industry, whose kindness, expertise, and passion shaped many local vineyards. Nevarez spent a lifetime working every job he could gathering knowledge that eventually enabled him to start his own vineyard management company, Nevarez Farm Labor, and own his own eighty-acre vineyard. Although Juan struggled to read and write himself, he dreamed of higher education for

Vineyard Team's Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship Helping Children of Wine Industry Workers Higher education is important to many students but paying for college can be challenging. The Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship makes higher education investments in the children of California's vineyard and winery workers. The majority of awardees are the first in their family to attend college. First-generation students have more barriers when it comes to attaining higher education – they cannot ask their parents how to navigate the system, budgets are often tight, and they can feel guilty for leaving their families. This funding helps students and their families achieve their dream of becoming a college graduate and pursuing a professional career. More Than a Scholarship Because our goal is college success, the program includes multi-year scholarships to trade, two-, or four-year schools. We also provide a dedicated mentor to support the students throughout their collegi

Embracing Change Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship recipient, Lizbeth, had a meticulously laid out her plan to become a nurse. After years of studying and testing, she completed her pre-nursing at Cuesta Community College and was ready to transfer to a nursing program to complete her credentials. Everything was going as she planned until she was waitlisted in the heavily impacted healthcare educational system. Recovering from her disappointment, Lizbeth took a step back to evaluate her next steps. She knew that while starting a nursing program was on pause, her path to achieving her dreams didn’t have to be. Lizbeth is implementing a multi-tiered plan of action. While she waits for her acceptance into the program, she continues college part-time and works as a phlebotomist technician. She strengthened her admission resume with the help of her pre-health advisor at Cuesta and her Scholarship Mentor, Alex. As a backup plan to her school of choice, she has submitted an application