The Help Yourself Win Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) public charitable organization, was formed in 2019 through the consolidation of the Help Yourself Foundation and Schenectady-Win, Inc. Both public foundations seek to change the prospects for those at-risk of being left behind, with the new foundation continuing to support and strengthen the efforts of the consolidated initiatives.
Founded in 2005, the Help Yourself Foundation establishes programs linked to colleges for children beginning in third grade and continues the successful initiative begun at Beloit College in 1988. Using a STEM curriculum (science, technology, engineering, and math), Help Yourself shows those in the hands-on program that college can be part of their future.
Schenectady-Win (WIN), created in 2016, takes those who are either unemployed or underemployed and gives them a second chance. Requiring participants to earn a high school degree during the course of the program, if they do not already have one, WIN provides life-skills training throughout the initiative, an OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) card so students can work at a construction site, NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research) course work, construction training in framing, painting, sheet rocking, and taping, and a job at the end of the roughly 12-month program.