Incorporating academic and faith-based enrichment activities to provide a path for children and young people to own their present and imagine their wildest future.

The Principles:

• Self-Determination & Resiliency: When people are able to own their change, they see and activate pathways to their change.
• Whole Approach: Providing academic and social tenets of growth creates a supported space for children and young people to set their course. Participants will envision their own academic, behavioral, and physical goals and develop an action plan to achieve them with the help of an on site volunteer, who will equip the young people with the tools, support and options as well as operate as a sounding board.
• Academic growth focuses on improved learning as marked by increased success in school.
• Behavioral growth is about growing social capital, which includes building one’s soft skills. Self-regulation, appropriate attachment, and literacy skills are our focus for children 0-5. Young people k-12th grade build soft skills around improving behaviors at home or school, possessing successful interview skills (being present and focused), or committing to participate in after school activities.

• Physical goal setting encourages a commitment to improving nutrition, getting more sleep, or incorporating daily physical activity.
• Spiritual growth includes faith based service opportunities such as volunteering at a soup kitchen or shelter, attending church, deepening church participation (perhaps through choir, youth group, or ushering).
• Personalized Relationships: Establishing a 1:1 connection between child/young person and an engaged volunteer will foster a healthy and nurturing environment, critical for successful positive youth development.
• Engaged Families: Assisting families and young people in deepening their support and connection with and to each other creates the opportunity for sustained change so that young people are able to thrive.

What We Are Doing:

• Developing academic and enrichment curricula.
• Engaging young people (0-12th grade) in a collaborative setting to foster academic and social growth.
• Training volunteers in curricula so that they will be able to coach young people to set goals and create an action plan for their success. Young people will receive academic support (general and/or literacy/mathematic tutoring) as well as enrichment activities such as theatre, art, and movement.

Our Plan:

• We will engage young people (0-12th grade) who are receiving services at DRMM locations to begin an iterative process for determining the variable components (e.g. types of enrichment activities, ways in which programming can be delivered: space, etc.) of the youth programming.
• We will begin to develop an outreach plan to recruit volunteers, including a volunteer friendly process and evaluative component (for both young person and volunteer). We will begin to informally host sessions with young people in December 2015 and softly roll volunteers into this process. In January 2016, will we continue to monitor and develop the model, both through improvements with current participants as well as expansion into sites outside of DRMM.

We offer three different tracks to engage youth (0-12th grade) that meets them where they are academically and socially.

Track One (0-5 years old)

• Mommy & Me Activities including parenting classes and building family literacy

Track Two K-8th Grade

• General homework help
• Skills Building (Math and Literacy focus)
• Enrichment activities

Track Three 9th-12th Grade

• General homework help
• Leadership Academy
• Enrichment activities including faith-based service