Fernando Monge, right, executive director for the Hazel Park Promise Zone, meets with Katrina “Kitty” Groeller, the program’s post-secondary success coach, at Hazel Park High School.
By: Andy Kozlowski | Madison-Park News | Published March 21, 2026
HAZEL PARK — The Hazel Park Promise Zone was established in 2009 and activated in 2012. Its mission: to use recaptured state taxes and donor funding to guarantee a tuition-free path to an associate degree at Oakland Community College for every student who lives in the Hazel Park Public Schools district and graduates from it. Alternatively, the same money can be put toward two years at any other college or trade school in Michigan.
It’s an incredible opportunity that has been life-changing for many students in Hazel Park, who in some cases are the first generation in their family to pursue a post-secondary education. And the program goes far beyond scholarships, with benefits available to all students in the school district, including those who live outside it.
For example, the Promise Zone has a college access advisor at Hazel Park High School — Shaunti Finley — who helps students line up their post-secondary education and secure funding. There are also “Promise Zone navigators” with similar roles at the other high schools: Drai Hall, at Hazel Park Advantage School, an alternative school, and Jacob Yonan, at INVEST Roosevelt High School, which primarily serves students from immigrant families.
Hazel Park High also has a “success coach,” Katrina Groeller, who follows alumni as they navigate college or trade schools, helping them manage classes and credits, secure extra funding, fine-tune resumés and job applications, and more. She even reaches out to alumni who are not currently in a post-secondary education program, such as those who joined the military, asking if she can help in any way.
Groeller, known to many students as “Kitty,” said she was drawn to the college access field while studying for her sociology degree at Michigan State University, joining the MSU College Advising Corps.
“When this opportunity (at the Promise Zone) came across, I knew it would be perfect for me because I had been really wanting to get back to the college access space,” she said. “It’s not just about getting kids to college or an apprenticeship program but getting kids through it as well. We don’t want them to just sign up for a program and tell them, ‘Good luck — have fun!’ No, they still need mentoring and guidance and someone to cheer for them. Because if they don’t have that social circle, it’s easy to feel isolated, even if both their parents went to college.
“It’s such a significant time of transition in a person’s life, and it has a significant impact on one’s career outcome,” Groeller said. “For a lot of students, there’s a feeling of anxiety and even imposter syndrome, where they look around and see people who come from families with a lot of money or connections. There’s financial stress, too, and we help them by seeking out scholarships. But we’re also about more holistic support — not just the money or making sure you get all A’s, but making sure you feel like you belong, and that you have the confidence to do this.”
Fernando Monge is the executive director of the Hazel Park Promise Zone. He said that since the first graduating class to receive scholarships in 2012, more than 1,500 students have benefited from at least one of the Promise Zone’s services, which also includes prep tutoring for the Scholastic Aptitude Test and even emergency funding, available on a case-by-case basis when students experience a financial hardship in their family or personal life.
As of December 2025, the program has spent more than $1.1 million dollars in financial assistance, including the scholarships. And for the 2024-25 academic year, students from the three high schools in the district completed more than 400 college and trade applications, were accepted to more than 300 schools, and submitted more than 125 applications for FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
“It’s great. Oakland County is the only county in the state that has two Promise Zones — Hazel Park and Pontiac — and it really goes to show what we can do, taking two of the lower-income cities in the richest county in the state, and giving back, not only with generous donors but also tax recapture. Really, all people who live here are giving back to their youth so that they can have a better life,” Monge said. “And to be clear, we’re not saying college is the only way to go — we fund trade schools as well. We just want to make sure that you’re doing something after high school that will advance your career.”
Monge said there are many students who are so appreciative of the opportunity that they return years later to serve on the Promise Zone’s alumni engagement committee.
“We now have alumni with master’s degrees or doctorate degrees, students who have become lawyers or doctors, who went through the Promise Zone and are now doing so much more, and it’s a full circle where many eventually come back and give back, with donations or their time, mentoring students who are currently in college,” Monge said.
Officials touted the many success stories of the program during its annual fundraiser dinner, “Race to College,” held March 3. Donations are crucial to the Promise Zone, and anyone can contribute by going to hazelparkpromise.org and clicking the “Donate” tab.