Yasmine Arrington calls herself different and lucky — and she is quite lucky. The freshman strategic communications major from Washington, D.C., is a published poet, recipient of numerous scholarships — including a $25,000 award from the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation and a $30,000 scholarship from The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation — and has traveled abroad to Zambia. Arrington is also the founder of scholarCHIPS (Children with Incarcerated Parents), a nonprofit organization based in the District that offers scholarships to students in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., with incarcerated parents.

Overcoming family tragedy

Arrington has a deep personal connection with scholarCHIPS. Her father, a North Carolina native, had been incarcerated in Georgia for most of her childhood and was released a month ago.

"I never got to know him as a child," Arrington said. "He was in and out of prison all my life. Recently, he was in jail in Georgia. I went to see him when he got out and for Thanksgiving. It's hard for us to get to know each other because I'm an adult and he's still looking for that 4-year old girl."

Arrington and her siblings grew up with their grandmother, her mother's mother, for most of their lives. Arrington's mother passed away from complications of gastric bypass surgery during Arrington's freshman year of high school. Her mother also suffered from depression and an addiction to painkillers.

"I was 8 years old when she got the surgery," Arrington said. "Her depression was difficult for my brothers and me because we were just watching it. It was this constant downward spiral. She got really skinny and she would drink all day and did nothing when we were at school. Then she got addicted to painkillers and had at least 15 different prescriptions. My grandmother had her move out because she would pass out or have something on the stove and it would burn."

But two months after her mother's death, Arrington found love in Tino Monroe, also an Elon University freshman, and they've been together ever since. The couple decided to attend Elon together since the school offered both their majors.

Starting and developing scholarCHIPS

Through LearnServe International, a nonprofit organization that promotes social work in Washington, D.C., Maryland and abroad, Arrington traveled to Zambia the summer after her junior year after receiving a grant and raising money for the trip. ScholarCHIPS began in Arrington's junior year of high school, and LearnServe awarded the freshman a $1,000 grant to start a scholarship. Arrington also received a seed grant from Ashoka's Youth Venture to kick off her nonprofit.

"At scholarCHIPS, we raise college dollars for high school seniors who wish to prolong their education — that could be at a trade school, any of those kinds of schools," Arrington said. "Last year, we raised almost $10,000 and we haven't given out any scholarships yet."

In October 2010, scholarCHIPS was officially launched through its kickoff event that attracted many donors, interested students and members of the press, according to Arrington.

"The kickoff brought in a lot of money and the Washington Post articles brought in a lot of money," she said. "I want to do a dance fundraiser and things like that but we haven't gotten to do that because it's still new."

Mary Evangeliste, a consultant for Fearless Future, the agency that helped plan and promote scholarCHIPs and the kickoff, said she contacted Arrington after she heard of the nonprofit on NPR while in Washington, D.C.

"I've worked in higher education for 14 years and when I heard about this, I thought, 'This is a brilliant solution for a vexing problem,'" Evangeliste said.

She and her business partner Jonathan run a Web design company and chose scholarCHIPS as the organization for their pro bono work. They did the branding for scholarCHIPS, which included brochures and information packets for students and donors.

Evangeliste received a $7,000 grant for scholarCHIPS, which she said will cover the costs of printing promotional material for the organization. Arrington is a visionary and her work should be commended, according to Evangeliste.

"Yasmine is smart, ambitious and above all, just really smart," she said. "She's been really easy to work with and Jonathan and I really appreciate it. We think scholarCHIPS is a tiny way to create a solution to a growing problem."

ScholarCHIPS is currently under LearnServe, but Arrington and Evangeliste said they're working on getting the organization an official 501(c) (3) status, which will classify it as a nonprofit.

"This isn't just talking about how much the prison system is unfair," Evangeliste said. "This is a solution to prevent it from affecting the most vulnerable."

Achieving before, at Elon

Before she got to Elon, Arrington received multiple grants from different organizations. She said she worked long hours during her senior year and that the hours were worth it.

"All senior year I was up all night doing homework and scholarship applications," Arrington said. "And I just got so many. I've been a Jack Kent Cooke scholar since junior high but have to reapply to be a college scholar."

She also received one of 10 national AXA Achievement scholarships. In late May, Arrington was called to the principal's office and spoke to Dan Snyder, Redskins owner, on the phone to award her a $25,000 grant. Snyder awarded her $5,000 for scholarCHIPS, which helped in reaching the organization's goal of $10,000.

Arrington also received a scholarship from McDonald's and the Washington, D.C. chapter of sorority Zeta Phi Beta. She said she didn't directly receive the money from the scholarships. Instead, the money was given directly to Elon to finance her tuition.

"I decided to divide it over four years so I could have money throughout the years," she said.

On campus, Arrington is a soprano in Gospel Choir, a SMART (Student Mentors Advising Rising Talent) mentee, where she has been awarded Mentee of the Week and Guide Event staff member. Arrington said she plans on applying to be a Lumen Scholar and for graduate school when the time comes.

"I've made up in my mind that's what I have to do and that's what I want to do," she said. "With this economy and society, it's not unique or special to have just a college degree. You need something else to make yourself valid."

For an update on Yasmine and ScholarCHIPS, check out this article in the Spring 2013 edition of  The Edge.