Venture Field: Education

Year of Venture Launch: 2007

Name: Victoria

Role in the Venture: Co-President

Venture Description: We are the Haven of Opportunities for Progress in Education (H.O.P.E.). H.O.P.E.'s mission is to enhance the lives of elementary school children who have been affected by domestic violence and who, therefore, live in shelters. Our team is composed of students from the Opportunity Programs at NYU. The Opportunity Programs has offered financial and academic support for previously disadvantaged students for 35 years. H.O.P.E.’s objective is to serve under resourced children in an under resourced learning environment.

Venture Origin: Team H.O.P.E. wished to advocate for a cause that was currently underrepresented in society. We relied on finding similarities between our core members, who are all female and who hope to enhance the lives of children. After reviewing the disturbing statistics of domestic violence, Team H.O.P.E. became anxious to assist the children educationally.

Innovation: We will work with children from the Urban Women's Retreat in Harlem, which serves families experiencing domestic violence. The facility provides urgent and essential services including housing, emergency assistance, medical referrals, and mental health counseling. However, the facility does not provide educational resources and a program like this does not currently exist for the children.

Impact

Impact: With the seed money from this project, we will provide the elementary school children with supplies and tutoring. H.O.P.E. gives back to the community, which we define as at-risk children who reside in a shelter for battered women. Often children in this environment lack the means to purchase school essentials such as notebooks, pencils, etc. Our project will ensure that these needs are met.

Engagement with the community: Team H.O.P.E. has been in correspondence with 12 other members who wish to become involved immediately. Information about our Venture has been shared with members of the Opportunity Programs, who are all very excited and eager to support us in our endeavor.

Impact and engagement progress since launch: As a newly established club, Team H.O.P.E. aims to target as many individuals as possible in the Opportunities Program, which is comprised of approximately 800 students, to take an active role in our efforts. Four years after its inception, Team H.O.P.E. will have impacted the lives of approximately 200 students per year and therefore, 800 children.

Impact and engagement strategy: We are encouraging students who are directly involved in the Opportunity Programs to take an active role in this project. However, there are several students within the general NYU community who are interested as well. Through the club that Team H.O.P.E. will establish, several events will be held per year to engage students through the club network as well as faculty and administration.

Awards: Team H.O.P.E. anticipates the seed money during the month of February during which time it would be able to implement its proposal.

Budget

Amount of Youth Venture seed grant: $1,000.00

Money raised: Our initial seed grant was received within the past week. Thus far, a pledge has been secured by the NYU Bookstore. In the future, we plan to register as a NYU club, leveraging $500 for this project.

Creative ways of raising resources: Team members will advertise pizza party fundraisers to attract students’ interest and will use these events as platforms to raise awareness as well. In addition, raffles will be conducted months prior to the event so as to encourage participants to attend the upcoming event.

Strategy

Expansion plan for next 6 months: H.O.P.E.’s members aim to secure in-kind donations from organizations such as the NYU Bookstore, Staples, and Crayola. Thereafter, backpacks will be distributed to the children and members of H.O.P.E. will visit the Retreat to tutor the children.

Plans for sustaining the project: A sustainable group requires a crystallized effort. As a registered club, Team H.O.P.E. will retain old members while recruiting new ones to visit the site a minimum of once every two weeks to replenish materials and to provide other services.

Vision for three years from now: Additional funding for Team H.O.P.E. could allow a number of ideas to become possible. Perhaps field trips could be implemented into the program. In addition, school uniforms can be purchased for the children of the Urban Women’s Retreat to satisfy the requirement of the required school dress code.

Project impact: Upon visiting the residents of the Urban Women’s Retreat, we were touched. Regardless of the trying circumstances that the mothers and their children had faced, they welcomed our presence and still maintained positive demeanors. We’d like to stress that our primary focus is to lessen the emotional impact that the children feel when required to attend schools in a new and strange environment by supplying them with educational materials that help them more easily assimilate. These children were forced to leave their former residences with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. They are embarrassed, shamed, and desperately searching for strength. When they attend school, and they are placed within 5 days, they should be provided with a comfortable and secure outlook on their futures. This simple project can encourage them not to give up and will allow them to realize that their dreams are still attainable. We will be working continuously with the children by tutoring them and we view this component as the foundation for their success and development.

Youth Venture movement - what it means and how you can contribute: The opportunity to change the lives of others comes with lasting rewards. We understand that a limited number of individuals receive the mere possibility of this gift. Consequently, Team H.O.P.E. feels that it is not only our desire, but also our responsibility to sustain the practices that we establish. As college students, we welcome the chance to work with young students who are in difficult circumstances. By successfully implementing this project, more individuals will realize the importance of the Youth Venture movement, which positively impacts the lives of young children who would greatly benefit from educational support.

Author:
Victoria
United States