City Year receives $2 million Youth Mentoring Grant from U.S. Department of Justice
January 13, 2017
Two-Year, Multistate Award Enables City Year to Support Students in Eight Cities
A $2 million youth mentoring grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been awarded to City Year, an education organization committed to ensuring that students in high-need schools meet their full potential.
The two-year, multistate award will provide mentoring support to thousands of students in eight of the 28 cities City Year serves: Columbia, Little Rock, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Antonio and Seattle.
“City Year is honored and grateful to have been selected for the U.S. Department of Justice’s mentoring program award,” said Gail Wilson-Giarratano City Year Columbia Executive Director and Vice President. “Our longstanding efforts to provide students in Richland County School District One and Lexington County School District 4 with caring near-peer mentors have proven that these types of mentoring relationships help students thrive.”
City Year’s 3,100 AmeriCorps members serve full-time in 314 high-need schools nationwide, increasing the adult-to-student ratio and delivering customized academic and social-emotional supports that meet students’ unique needs and enable school-wide improvement.
Research shows that students who are connected to at least one caring adult during their educational experience, such as a teacher or City Year AmeriCorps member, are more likely to come to school and perform better academically.
The DOJ grant program supports mentoring programs in three categories (national, multistate and collaborative) and is part of the department’s larger effort to reduce juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, truancy and other problem and high-risk behavior. The program is run by the DOJ’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
City Year is dedicated to helping students and schools succeed. Diverse teams of City Year AmeriCorps members provide high-impact student, classroom and school-wide supports to help students stay in school and on track to graduate from high school, ready for college and career success. A 2015 study shows that schools that partner with City Year were up to 2-3 times more likely to improve on math and English assessments. A proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network, City Year is funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service, local school districts, and private philanthropy from corporations, foundations and individuals. Learn more at www.cityyear.org, City Year’s Facebook page, and on Twitter.
