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The Michaels Organization Educational Foundation Awards 1 5 Million In Resident Scholarships

FILED TO: Lifting Lives

A total of 256 scholarships will be bestowed to Michaels residents living in affordable and military properties

Today The Michaels Organization Educational Foundation announced it has awarded $1,520,000 million in scholarships for the 2021/2022 academic school year to 256 residents living at affordable and military living communities owned or managed by The Michaels Organization. A national leader in residential real estate and the largest privately held owner of affordable housing in the country, Michaels has been providing grants to residents to use towards their pursuit of higher education since 1991. 

After the Foundation awarded a record-breaking amount of $1.2 million in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021/2022 sum will represent a new high for the program which has been donating funds since 1991. Since the non-profit was started 31 years ago by Michaels founder and chairman Mike Levitt, the Foundation has granted close to $10 million in scholarships to not only affordable and military housing residents, but also college students who live in Michaels’ student living communities, both on- and off-campus. 

The Foundation is eager to award the many high-performing Scholars who come from unique backgrounds. A two-time Scholar named Gabriella Flanders from Parks at Monterey Bay will use her $9,000 grant towards her Fine Arts degree in Dance at NYU. Jennifer Livovich, a resident at The Nest, plans to use her $10,000 at Colorado State Global to major in Human Services. Jennifer will use her degree to continue her non-profit called Feet Forward, an initiative she started that donates socks to the unhoused community, a mission that’s personal to her after she too experienced chronic homelessness for many years. 

“Investing in people has always been at the forefront of Michaels’ mission,” said Michaels’ Chief Executive Officer John J. O’Donnell. “We will always go the extra mile to do the extraordinary, and this year that means awarding more money than we ever have to the residents who call our properties home.”

The 2021/2022 Michaels Scholars class is made up of 256 residents who will be attending various community colleges and universities across the country. Additionally, some scholars will use their grants to participate in vocational training programs. Recipients were awarded grants ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 with majors, interests and ages spanning a diverse range while senior residents interested in pursuing continuing education classes were also awarded grants of $500 each. 


All Foundation funds are raised through voluntary contributions by companies and private individuals throughout The Michaels Organization’s business network. All donations are then matched $2 for every $1 dollar by The Michaels Organization’s Mike Levitt, and his wife Pat Levitt.

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