Need Support? You’ve Got It.
Are you a community or technical college student in King County? We want to help you with the resources you need so you can focus on graduating and meeting your financial goals! United Way has Benefits Hubs on 10 community college campuses across King County.
Find Help With:
- Financial coaching
- Housing supports
- Basic Food (SNAP/EBT)
- Food access and grocery delivery
- Utility bill assistance
- ORCA LIFT discount bus pass
- Mental health and wellness referrals
- Health care navigation
- Free tax preparation
- Financial aid application
- Emergency grant help
Need one-on-one help with these resources? Please schedule a meeting with a Benefits Hub coach using the appointment button below.
Benefits Hub Locations
Questions?
You can always reach us at benefitshub@uwkc.org or call on (206) 649-8124.
Text message communications. We use text messaging to communicate with you about Benefits Hub services. Normal messaging rates apply and the frequency of messages may vary. Mobile Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All other categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.
Opt-out of text message communications. You may opt out of text messaging at any time by replying to any message with STOP or contacting us at benefitshub@uwkc.org. This will end the communications from that particular phone number. You may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing text messages from other phone numbers managed by United Way of King County, and you may opt out of those in a similar fashion.
Blake Nordstrom Scholarship
To honor Blake Nordstrom—Nordstrom’s co-president, respected community leader, and philanthropist who died in 2019—United Way of King County and Nordstrom created the Blake Nordstrom Scholarship.
Each year, it awards 20 college students with $5,000 scholarships.
Applications open on May 19, 2025, at 8 a.m., and close on June 30, 2025, at 12 p.m. To be eligible, students must be over 18 years of age and enrolled at a Benefits Hub partner college. Students may receive up to two consecutive scholarships.
Below, you can find additional details about eligibility requirements, important dates, and the answers to frequently asked questions.
Applications for 2025 are now closed.
Eligibility Requirements
- Must be 18 or older.
- Be enrolled at a Benefits Hub partner college*.
- Have at least 1 quarter remaining in your academic/certificate program at the time of submitting your application.
- Maintain enrollment in 6 credits or more at Benefits Hub participating location or if you are between 1-5 credits, you must also be credential/degree seeking/declared.
- No GPA requirements!
In order to prioritize students with the highest need, we will apply weighted criteria to narrow the pool of applicants. Award recipients will be randomly selected from the list of students who have the greatest need among the following criteria:
- First generation student status
- Racial and ethnic demographic data
- Parenting status
- Multi-lingual capacity
- Lack of access to other forms of financial aid
- Household income
- Basic needs assessment
Important Dates
- May 19: Application opens
- June 30: Application closes
- July 15: Scholarship recipients notified
- August 8: All other applicants notified
*Benefits Hub partner colleges:
- Bellevue College
- Cascadia College
- Green River College
- Highline College
- North Seattle College
- Renton Technical College
- Seattle Central College
- South Seattle College
- Shoreline College
- UW Bothell
FAQ
I am a community member, professor, or staff member at one of the partner colleges. How can I help my students?
Find helpful information here. More questions? Contact us at benefitshub@uwkc.org
I attend one of the colleges listed above and am only registered for English as a Second Language (ESL) or Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes. Am I eligible for this scholarship?
To be eligible for this scholarship, applicants must be enrolled in six credits or more OR enrolled in a degree or certificate program. A college credit is a unit that measures learning at accredited colleges and universities in the United States. Degree and certificate programs have a minimum number of credits that must be acquired to be eligible for graduation. Because ESL and ABE classes are not a part of a degree program and college credits are not received by taking these classes, a student only taking ESL or ABE classes is not eligible for this scholarship. However, if you are a student taking ESL and/or ABE classes as well as at least six course credits to a degree or certificate program, you are eligible to apply for this scholarship.
How much money can I receive from this scholarship?
All scholarship recipients will receive $5,000 for one academic year.
How many scholarships will be awarded each year?
Each academic year, 20 students will receive the Blake Nordstrom Scholarship.
How can this scholarship be used?
The purpose of this scholarship is to help students meet basic needs outside of school-related expenses. The funds from this scholarship can be used, but are not limited to, any of the following:
- Housing-related expenses (rent payment, mortgage payment, utility payment, etc.)
- Grocery shopping
- Transportation-related expenses (gas, bus passes, car maintenance, etc.)
- Childcare expenses
- Mental health support
Funds are not intended for tuition but may be used to pay any unpaid balances that would keep you from enrolling.
My scholarship application was approved. When can I expect to receive the scholarship?
The scholarship will be divided depending on how many quarters you have left in your academic program, up to four quarters. Funds will be dispersed by the second week of each quarter you are enrolled.
My scholarship application was approved. Will I receive a one-time payment?
This depends on how many quarters you have left in your academic program at the time of the application. Additionally, you will only receive this scholarship during the duration of the 2025–2026 academic year (from fall 2025 through summer 2026). If you have one quarter remaining in your academic program, you will receive a one-time payment of $5,000. If you have two quarters remaining in your academic program, you will receive $2,500 one quarter and $2,500 the next quarter. If you have three quarters remaining in your academic program, you will receive $2,000 the first quarter, $1,500 the next quarter, and $1,500 the final quarter. If you are enrolled for four quarters, you will receive $1,250 each quarter.
I will be enrolled for more than one quarter, but I’d prefer to receive a one-time payment.
This scholarship will be subject to federal income tax, meaning that this is taxable income that you must report on your tax filing. Breaking up this scholarship across quarters has the benefit of reducing the tax burden between tax reporting periods of 2025 and 2026. For this reason, this scholarship will be divided among all remaining quarters of enrollment, up to four quarters.
I was awarded the Blake Nordstrom Scholarship. Can I apply again next school year?
Yes! If you were awarded the Blake Nordstrom Scholarship, you can apply for the scholarship again the next academic year. For example, if you are awarded the Blake Nordstrom Scholarship for the 2025–2026 academic year, you can apply for this scholarship again for the 2026–2027 academic year. However, individuals cannot receive this award more than two times. If you are awarded the Blake Nordstrom Scholarship two times, you are not eligible to apply again.
Information about transfer degrees.
Transferring to a non-Benefits Hub partner college will result in the forfeiture of any remaining scholarship funds awarded to you.