Arts, Music, Science, Math, Reading
Tax deductible
Peace Community and Care Walk~
What is Educate Youth
Educate Youth is a nonprofit after-school and summer program for middle- and high-school students that needs funds immediately to continue its programming.
The 2022-2023 academic has started. We are back....signed Fun and Friends~
Why the urgent need?
The need for our after-school program is bigger than Educate Youth can accommodate. We hope to receive funds from the 21st Century state funds, the county, and other foundations. After-school funding is needed for programs like ours because the youth in our community struggle to overcome existing opportunity gaps that COVID-19 only exacerbated. The money would help support our students as they navigate through the 2022-2023 academic year.
Recent events in the community have increased the need for support for our students. Students are witness to a sharp increase in gun violence in our neighborhoods. They are still contending with the impact of COVID, including the loss of social contact and interrupted education, as well as much higher infection rates in the Ypsilanti community. Although the Black Lives Matter marches of 2020 have dwindled, problems of police violence against people of color remain. Our students may face additional challenges in unstable housing, food deficits, and increased street-level gun violence.
Although students come to Educate Youth for an educational and mentoring program, the clubhouse provides more: it is a safe place where kids are heard, mentored, and supported. Educate Youth helps address needs that arise out of circumstances out of kids’ control, providing clothing, food, personal hygiene and school supplies. Educate Youth is much more than an academic program. Educate Youth is committed to ensuring students receive well-rounded educational opportunities. Beginning in 2019 Educate Youth started funding art and music education.
Why Educate Youth?
Opportunities for children are not equal, but even more astonishing is that children a mile apart can have vastly different qualities of education, access to outdoor space, healthcare, and food. These opportunity deficits show up in low graduation rates, increased contact with law enforcement, lack of employment opportunities, and even shortened life spans.
It takes a Village.
Each organization has a vital role in Educate Youth. We know it takes a community to educate each student living in Ypsilanti. Educate Youth was the Brown Chapel AME Church Community Grant Recipient for 2022. This grant was awarded to local businesses and other grass root community groups who demonstrate a spirit of encouragement and hope to the citizens of the Washtenaw County area. The Ann Arbor Piano Teachers Guild Foundation board unanimously approved a $500 grant for Educate Youth's music program.
Educate Youth students:
- Host Walking While Black/Love is the Answer viewing and discussions with the Ypsilanti Police Department and the Washtenaw County Sheriff Department.
- Discuss entrepreneurship with downtown Ypsilanti businesses.
- Design and paint community murals in partnership with Be Creative Arts Studio.
- Participate regularly in a panel for the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources in Ypsilanti, discussing the movie, Walking While Black.
- Participate and support President Obama’s program, My Brother’s Keeper
- Emcee and moderate Ypsilanti School Board candidate panels each election cycle.
- Invite local politicians, artists, community activists and neighbors to engage in conversation about their work.
Educate Youth needs funds immediately for its fall program, which begins in September. Youth in our community need this support now, and the need is growing.
You can help by investing in our students today.
Organizer
Gail Wolkoff
Organizer
Ypsilanti, MI
Educate Youth 501c3
Beneficiary