• The Experience Fellowship

    It Makes A Difference For That One

    The Experience Fellowship

Hendricks Family Foundation

Click here to see a few of our remarkable recipients!

New applications are being accepted!

Overview & Intent

The Experience Fellowship will provide up to $2,500 to empower motivated youth to follow their passions and build their skills. It is developed with an acknowledgement that the right opportunity at the right time can have a profound impact.

Eligibility

The Experience Fellowship targets those youth who may not be able to pursue their identified interests without fellowship support.

Eligible applicants will be Beloit residents, aged 13 – 19 who have identified an opportunity and/or been accepted to a program offering a meaningful growth experience. Applicants must be actively engaged with a mentor or supportive adult and proposed fellowship activities must be consistent with Hendricks Family Foundation values.

Hendricks Family Foundation Values

We will adhere to the conservative principles and example of our founders, Ken and Diane Hendricks, in pursuing our goals.

  • We believe that every person has within themselves the ability to do great things.
  • We believe in individual responsibility and freedom, self-reliance, strong families and strong communities.
  • We embrace taking risks and believe in the entrepreneurial spirit that built and sustains ABC Supply and this country we love.
  • We believe education is the key path to opportunity and believe every child deserves access to strong and innovative schools, experiential learning and enrichment opportunities, career and technical education and, robust career path planning.
  • We believe citizens should be given room to solve problems effectively on their own and believe that families, churches, schools, neighborhoods, and other voluntary organizations are most able and likely to change individual behaviors and transform individual lives.

Fellowship Activities

Eligible fellowship activities may be education or career-focused programs, civic or leadership opportunities,  or creative endeavors.  Programs suitable for Fellowship awards will achieve the following objectives.

Allow Fellows to explore or strengthen a self-declared area of interest.

Sponsors and supportive adults are encouraged to offer guidance in the selection process and to use strategies that foster and support independent choice.

Structured to encourage curiosity and healthy risk-taking.

Adolescent brain research demonstrates the benefit to young people of having safe opportunities to take risks.  There are a wide range of ‘risks’ that challenge youth to safely move outside their comfort zone.

Increase engagement with positive adults.

Fellowship activities must provide high quality engagement with responsible adults.

Stretch capabilities and build skills.

We want to encourage Fellows to select opportunities that build upon readily available courses or programs and move them beyond their current capabilities.  Think achievable, stretch goals.

Application & Approval Process

Experience Fellowship Pre-Qualifying

  • Applicant Information

  • Date Format: MM slash DD slash YYYY

  • Program Information

  • Activity/ExperienceWhat did you learn or gain from the activity/experience? 

    Click the plus sign to add additional activities or experiences, one activity/experience per line.

  • Enter $ amount/
  • Please share the amount your family plans to contribute to this program/activity? You may use this space to identify any family circumstances or events that limits your family's ability to share in the cost of this experience.

  • To be completed by parents or guardians

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
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Fellowship Applications

To apply, interested candidates must complete a two-step process:

Step 1 – Complete an initial application to pre-qualify. Be prepared to answer the following questions:

  • Name of program/activity
  • Program/activity dates
  • Brief explanation of program/activity
  • Describe what you expect to learn from the program/activity
  • List prior activities and experiences that prepared you for this Experience Fellowship.
    Please include any CareerTek programs you have participated in as well as all other state and local opportunities.
  • The Fellowship limit for any one individual is $2,500. Priority will be given to applicants who may not be able to
    pursue programs without fellowship support. Actual awards will be based on program cost, family circumstances
    and student contributions.
  • Fellows will be asked to provide the total costs of programming. If costs exceed the Fellowship award, Fellows
    must demonstrate they have resources to cover all costs prior to the Fellowship being paid.
  • Parental permission for participation in the selected program is required

Step 2 – An invitation to submit a full application will be e-mailed to approved pre-qualified applicants

For the full application, a letter of recommendation is required from an adult sponsor (non-family member) who must be a volunteer or staff member of a local not-for-profit organization that is willing to accept the Fellowship payment and commit to supporting the Fellow through advising, teaching, or in a mentoring role.

Fellowship applications will be accepted online at any time.

Applications will be reviewed by a selection committee. Fellows should anticipate 30 to 60 days for award decisions.

Sponsor Recommendation and Responsibilities

    • The application must include a letter of recommendation, submitted by an adult sponsor (non-family member) who has committed to supporting the fellow through an advising, teaching or mentoring role. The sponsor must be a volunteer or staff member of a local not-for-profit organization that is willing to accept the Fellowship payment on behalf of the Fellow and support the Fellow in managing program enrollment and coordination.
    • Sponsors must provide confirmation of fellow acceptance into the requested program and informally verify financial need.

Fellowship Award Payments

    • No Fellowship payments will be made directly to an individual or family.
    • Fellows must be supported by a tax exempt, youth service organization who will be the recipient of the funds and work with the Fellow, supporting them in successfully completing their program.
    • Fellows may not request support for activities provided by the sponsor organization.

Program Follow-up

  • All Fellows are required to submit a final report within 45 days of completion of the fellowship activity. The report should be 1-2 pages and cover:
    1. What the Fellow gained from the experience
    2. Any challenges or accomplishments
    3. How the experience may impact future plans and/or choices

    Fellow candidates are encouraged to submit a video, not to exceed 7 minutes, in lieu of a written report. Fellows may be asked to present a report to the Fellowship Committee.

The Experience Fellowship is an adapted replication of a successful model that has been provided by the Eva Gunther Foundation . The Eva Foundation’s work is inspired by the life of Eva Gunther, who was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 12 ½.

Her family established the Foundation to remember Eva’s remarkable strengths and to allow other girls to have experiences similar to those Eva had. The Hendricks Family Foundation would like to thank the Eva Foundation team, particularly Eva’s father, Mark Gunther, for sharing their work and supporting our replication.