Our Mission
The mission of Help Yourself is to change the lives of grade-school children through the creation of after-school academies associated with college campuses. Over the past four decades, colleges have often reached out to high school students. High school, however, is too late for many children. By then, many of these children will have lost interest in school.
For some children, college is an expectation; for others, it is an elusive dream. The difference, all too often, comes down to support. In America, far too many children live in poverty. Few will ever gain the knowledge or the skills to attend college.
Our goal is to have Help Yourself academy children, many of whom were once considered possible drop-outs, graduate proudly from high school and enter college.
We gauge children’s progress by gathering the input of teachers and available data for continuous program improvement, with the aim of securing the futures of children in the program.
In short, we refuse to allow children to be robbed of their dreams. Instead, we help them turn those dreams into reality.
Children have the opportunity to experience immediate benefits by:
- Developing new interests and skills
- Having passionate and knowledgeable teachers preparing them for the rigors of school
- Feeling the joy of increased confidence and self-respect as their school performances improve
- Thinking of themselves as children with a future — and expecting college to be part of that future