I want to be a pianist but I don't have a piano

[mizuko]

The title actually refers to a friend of mine. He (a highschool student aiming for a music career in the future) and his family moved to a small town in the US, but his family can't afford neither a piano nor lessons any time soon due to a number of reasons, including how expensive immigrating to a different country was. College auditions are coming up soon, yet he only has a keyboard that doesn't have enough keys for the pieces he's learning. Piano was pretty much everything to him back home and he can't see himself pursuing anything other than music, so as you can imagine, this situation is particularly devastating. What are some possible solutions that we can look into? Currently I'm thinking he can:

1. Look if any places nearby will let him practice on their piano, but he lives in a small town so there's barely anything around there. What are some places we can look into that might let outsiders practice on their piano?

2. Look for scholarship opportunities. I'm not sure how to practice for an audition with just a keyboard, but we'll figure that out somehow. Nevertheless, any scholarship suggestions will be much appreciated.

3. Get a job so that he can afford a piano. What are some affordable options for a decent enough piano? And realistically, would this be enough to cover long-term costs for piano lessons, contests, etc. or would we still have to find another alternative source of funding?
 
Beyond this, are there any other recommendations on what he can possibly do to be able to practice properly? What are some music-related things useful to learn in the meantime as college preparation?

Thank you for any help, as we are at our wit's end here considering how hopeless the situation seems to be.

[geopianoincanada]

Yamaha and Roland make good entry level electronic pianos which have come a long way from the days of K-Mart plinky type of "keyboards" and they are priced so as not to break the bank.

[mizuko]

Yamaha and Roland make good entry level electronic pianos which have come a long way from the days of K-Mart plinky type of "keyboards" and they are priced so as not to break the bank.

We're definitely considering those once he's saved up enough. Thank you!

[brogers70]

Small towns have small town churches most of which have pianos. In my small town, I'm pretty sure the pastors of any nearby church would be willing to let a student practice on the piano during the week, likely for free, maybe in return for doing some chores.

[mizuko]

Small towns have small town churches most of which have pianos. In my small town, I'm pretty sure the pastors of any nearby church would be willing to let a student practice on the piano during the week, likely for free, maybe in return for doing some chores.

I see, thank you for this! We'll definitely try contacting churches then.