TRIB Live featured Idelia Robinson-Confer, the recipient of the 2020 Academic Excellence Scholarship for Foster Youth in an in-depth article. The Akerman Scholarship will award Robinson-Confer, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania and an incoming junior at California University of Pennsylvania, with $2,500 a year for up to four years of higher education. The Akerman Scholarship is funded through an endowment established in 2015 as part of the firm’s historic $1 million pledge to the National CASA/GAL Association.
“Having a CASA has changed my life forever,” Robinson-Confer told TRIB Live. Receiving the scholarship “means a lot to me just because this organization has done so much for me. Honestly, I’m really grateful to attend college. Ultimately, my main goal is to give back to others to make a difference in the community around the area of foster youth for children who went through similar situations as myself.”
Robinson-Confer was nominated by Florence “Flo” Jenkins, her Court Appointed Special Advocate. “She has faced things that kids should not have to face and, all of that time, Idelia has remained positive and optimistic. She believes that regardless of what your background is, you can be successful and she wants to share that with others,” Jenkins said.