Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund Scholarship

The Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund was created to “ennoble, empower and uplift,” young girls and women. Jacob Godfrey Schmidlapp created the fund to memorialize his young daughter, who was killed, at the age of nineteen, in an automobile accident while touring France. He wanted other women to have the same opportunities in life that he would have afforded for Charlotte.

In 1908, while women around the world were fighting to attain the most basic rights, Jacob G. Schmidlapp was working to ensure their futures. What started out as a $250,000 Fund has grown today to be almost $30 million in assets. It began by awarding interest-free loans to aid young women in pursuit of higher education. In the year 1919, the Fund gifted its first award to a not for profit organization, the YWCA.

Nearly 90 years later, the fund is still supporting the work of the YWCA. In 2008, the Charlotte Schmidlapp Fund Scholarship was created to provide financial support to women who are participating in YWCA programs to complete an educational program that is crucial to secure employment and financial stability necessary for independence and self-sufficiency.

The 2009 Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund Scholarship Award winner was recognized at the YWCA Annual Salute to Career Women of Achievement Luncheon on April 22nd, 2009.

2009 Charlotte Schmidlapp Fund Scholarship Recipient

Vikki Kimbrough Has overcome significant personal obstacles through determination and strong work ethic, with assistance from the YWCA’s Battered women’s Shelter and Transitional Living Center Accepted into Cincinnati State Technical and Community College’s Medical Assistance Certificate Program with the ultimate goal of earning an Associate’s Degree