Support Educate Youth~

Here is your chance to change lives in the Ypsilanti community through the power of education

Campaign runs until August 20, 2024

Educate Youth is a nonprofit organization. Our mission is to guide and encourage Ypsilanti students to earn their high school diploma and develop a two year post-graduation plan, as well as to become leaders and drive change in their community.

We carry out our mission by providing year round engaging academic programming for 7th-12th grade students. Starting as L3C named Dedicated To Make A Change in 2011, our name changed to Educate Youth after receiving nonprofit status in 2017.

Since 2011, we have supported over 200 students on their journey to high school graduation. Our graduates move either into the workforce, or head off to college, effectively disrupting the school to prison pipeline.

The vast majority of the students we serve meet the criteria for the federal Lower Living Standard Income Level (LLSIL). As such, Educate Youth provides an extraordinary amount of support to our students and their families, taking the term “wraparound services” to a new level.

Hygiene supplies are available for students to use at and/or take from our Clubhouse.

School supplies are provided not only at the beginning of the school year, but throughout the academic year, and specialty supplies, such as graphing calculators are purchased on an as needed basis.

Seasonally appropriate clothing is also purchased for students on an as needed basis, from winter coats to swimsuits for our summer trips to the pool.

A hot meal, fresh fruit, and snacks are available for students to enjoy during programming, and leftovers are often sent home with students who are experiencing food insecurity.

Support Educate Youth Students and help to improve their physical health, well being, and academic success for 7th-12th grade students without any financial barriers.

It costs Educate Youth $220 per student per month to run our program which gives middle and high schoolers from ALL walks of life, equal opportunities to learn and excel. Traditional programs have a fee, as a result, are often not affordable to all families.

Educate Youths programs are 100% free of charge.



Educate Youth provides transportation to and from programming each day to ensure transportation is not a barrier; we understand that transportation is a necessity for all youth programming.

Educate Youth offers something to do in a safe environment.

Community violence tends to increase in warmer weather, and in the summer. In 2011, students shared what times they did not feel safe being out in their neighborhoods. Since then, Educate Youth has run our summer and after school programs these times, ensuring that our students have something to do in a safe, positive environment.

Educate Youth boasts a 100% high school graduation rate for students in our program, a tremendous feat in a city with a 69.5% graduation rate that decreases more for students who are brown or black, and even more for those who identify as male. This is achieved in part to our H.O.P.E. (Having Opportunities for Positive Education) program that provides daily academic and social emotional support to our students. This program is staffed with a 3:1 student to staff ratio, and rapidly adapts to meet the needs of the students.

Educate Youth hosts college students from Eastern Michigan University, University of Michigan and Central Michigan University and Western Michigan University in the school of Social Work, Communication, and Education.

Your investment today will help Educate Youth Students Enjoy a Safe Summer.