Reports on monetary awards made by MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Awards to two colleges: West Hills Community College (WHCC), California; and Sinclair Community College (SCC), Ohio. The awards spotlight the singular role outstanding community colleges play in helping underserved youth and adults succeed in college and career. Both colleges received grants of $30,000 in recognition of their innovative efforts. WHCC is a small, rural college in the San Joaquin Valley. WHCC serves a 3,600 square mile agricultural area, 80% of whose population is made up of migrant farm worker families with median family incomes of $17,000. Unemployment in the region exceeds 20%, and less than 10% of adults have completed college. WHCC has boosted retention and advancement by redesigning curricula into shorter modules and integrating developmental courses into academic classes. WHCC also employs many nontraditional outreach methods in an effort to attract migrant workers. SCC is an inner-city school with 22,500 students in a region where poverty and school failure are the norm. More than 43% of the region's public school students dropped out, and 65% of students from pubic feeder schools did not meet minimum state performance standards. SCC has made outreach to these populations a priority, and has restructured its occupational programs to improve access for adults. Also reports briefly on four award finalists. (NB)