An affirmation Ashley Wise wrote after becoming a Health Care Service Corporation employee in 2024 still hangs in front of her supervisor’s desk: I am destined for success.
More than a year later, Wise, a customer advocate at HCSC's Morgan Park multipurpose center, is furthering her education at City Colleges of Chicago as her oldest daughter, Ariana, 19, pursues a degree at University of Illinois Chicago.
They are among the first beneficiaries of Hope Chicago. The organization, supported in part by HCSC, offers scholarships at participating two-and four-year institutions to students and one parent from five high schools on the city’s South and West sides, empowering students and their families to pursue educational aspirations without student loans.
Wise also is the first Hope Scholar parent to become employed at HCSC through the company’s partnership with Hope Chicago.
“Everything has worked out better than I could imagine,” says Wise, a wife and mother of five, whose younger children are ages 15 to 3. “I am utilizing these opportunities. Hope Chicago is a part of our family.”
Since 2022, HCSC has invested $2.5 million in Hope Chicago, established to improve economic outcomes by increasing access to higher education to 4,000 children and 1,000 parents over five years. More than 2,600 students and 380 parents have enrolled in postsecondary education programs, according to the nonprofit.
"By empowering families in this way, we’re strengthening their futures and building healthier, more resilient communities,” says Maggie Sugrue, manager of HCSC’s civic and corporate partnerships. “When people have the resources to thrive, everyone benefits."
Hope Chicago’s Parent Scholar Program is supported by 16 higher education institutions and workforce partners that offer postsecondary education options in business administration, education, health care, technology and trade skills. These paths allow parents to complete college degrees, build skills for workforce development or pursue new careers without incurring educational or workforce training debt.
Program entry and eligibility requires Hope Student Scholars to maintain full-time student status and satisfactory academic progress.
“Over the past four years, Hope Scholars and Parent Scholars from our partner high schools have demonstrated that when the amazing gifts of our families intersect with opportunity, hope rises,” says Hope Chicago CEO Aaron Kuecker. “With its unique whole-school, multigenerational, multipathway approach, Hope Chicago is a once-in-a-lifetime demonstration of the enormous potential of our neighborhoods to power economic mobility from within.”
Seventy percent of Parent Scholars completed their first year of postsecondary education, according to Hope Chicago’s most recent annual report.
“Our Hope Parents and Hope Scholars are proving what is possible,” Kuecker says.
Finding inspiration and motivation
For 20 years, Wise made a decent living for her family with a high school diploma.
Despite the opportunity to take advantage of Hope Chicago’s debt-free postsecondary education program, initially, she wasn’t convinced she could handle going back to school while working full-time and raising her family. In 2025, Wise’s outlook changed when she was homebound recovering from a medical condition.
Her husband, Emanuel, worked overnight, cared for her and their family and went back to school to become a real estate broker. Meanwhile, Ariana focused on navigating college and had just completed her freshman year.
Their efforts inspired Wise to commit to making the postsecondary leap, including taking college placement tests required to enroll in school.
“All it takes is your commitment to staying motivated,” says Wise, who has earned her first college credits toward an accounting diploma. Meantime, her husband recently became eligible to take the state real estate license exam, while Ariana has completed her first semester of her sophomore year at UIC.
Wise becomes emotional when she describes how their commitment to achieving higher education has affected their children.
“They tell us how smart we are, and how proud they are of us,” Wise says.
Carol Jackson, Wise’s supervisor, says Wise’s dedication and hunger to grow personally and professionally is unmatched.
“I can see Ashley as a future leader,” Jackson says. “She really stands out to me because she’s proactive, prepared and passionate about her work. She really steps up without me asking.”
