Joys…and Sorrows
Amherst ABC alumnus Kleaver Cruz ’07 has traveled the world asking the same question: “What does Black joy mean to you?” Amherst A Better Chance alum Keith Hill ’81 died unexpectedly this summer.
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Welcome to Amherst A Better Chance, in Amherst, Massachusetts. ABC is a national residential high school program that prepares academically talented and highly motivated African American, Latino, Asian, and Native American students from educationally underserved school districts for college and future leadership roles in the broader community. Since the Amherst program began, over 120 ABC scholars have graduated from ARHS, and they have attended more than 50 colleges and universities. Scholars live family-style with the RDs in a warm supportive environment enriched by daily sessions with Amherst College tutors. ABC board members, community mentors and ARHS faculty and staff also offer guidance and support. ABC scholars forge lasting bonds with local host families through monthly weekend visits and additional enrichment activities. Please help to support our program and make a donation today!
Find out more about Amherst A Better Chance by watching this short video
(produced by Amherst Media)
Updates
The 2020 Fall Foliage and Cider Run is going virtual this October!
Information about the “event” and how you can participate will be published soon. Stay tuned!!!!
Read MoreGospel Choir Concert (2020) CANCELLED
We’re looking forward to the return of this wondrous community event in the spring of 2021.
Read MoreA Fully-funded Summer Enrichment Experience Is Now Part of the Amherst A Better Chance Program for Every ABC Scholar!
Thanks to the generosity of two local donors, Amherst A Better Chance is now able to provide funding and logistical support for each scholar to participate in one summer enrichment program while attending Amherst Regional High School (either between sophomore and junior year or between junior and senior year).
Read MoreAmherst College Magazine Features “Dream House” about the College’s Partnership with Amherst A Better Chance
Downstairs at the Frost Library archives, you can find all the bound Olio yearbooks lined up just so. Browse through them in sequential order, and you fall into a kind of time-travel fugue state: two centuries of in-jokes, plus an unsettling montage of fashion and hair choices. Crew cuts in one decade give way to […]
Read MoreAmherst A Better Chance 50th Anniversary Gala a Huge Success!
It was a joyful evening of “celebrating the past and building for tomorrow.” The Top of the Campus (Marriott Center) at UMass was standing room only, as founding members of Amherst ABC, Scholar graduates spanning the 50 years of the program, and a vast array of community members and supporters all gathered to recognize this […]
Read More2019–2020 Scholars
Amherst A Better Chance welcomes two new scholars for the 2019-2020 school year! Ryan Mbugua is from Brockton, MA, and Joel Blandon is from The Bronx. We are confident they will be strong, contributing members of the Amherst ABC family.
Read MoreABC Alum Receives Prestigious Award!
At a conference celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Amherst ABC alum Michael Weekes (’71). Michael is the President and CEO of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers. He lives in Longmeadow and is a member of the Board of Directors of Amherst A Better Chance. Congratulations, […]
Read MoreWe Need You!
Interested in learning more about becoming a host parent/host family? There are no “requirements,” i.e., family size, age of children, etc. Successful host families have been parents with an empty nest and parents with young children, as well as parents with children currently in the secondary schools. Click here to learn more.