Mission

HOPE worldwide Pennsylvania is a faith-based charity with a mission to strengthen the North Central Philadelphia community by empowering children and families through non-sectarian mentoring, educational and health outreach programs. Utilizing our proven character development strategies, strong community partnerships and volunteer training expertise, our goal is to help shape character, build confidence and increase core academic skills in school students and to reduce barriers to self-sufficiency for families.

Description:
Programs - All HOPE worldwide Pennsylvania programs operate out of three different elementary schools in the North Philadelphia area during school hours which includes after school programs. These schools are Duckrey, Dunbar and Meade Elementary all located about a block or so from Temple University. On saturdays we operate from the Winchester Recreation center on York and 15th and The Martin Luther King Jr. Recreational Center located on Cecil B. Moore.

Summer Programs
Summer vacation time, without the safety and accountability of school, is often a time for tragic accidents and risky behavior by unsupervised children. The HOPE worldwide summer programs are coordinated with the HOPE Youth Corps (HYC), a leadership development program for teens and young adults from around the country. The HOPE Youth Corps provides an opportunity to train youth to mentor younger children in the North Philadelphia community. The Youth Corps teach and model good character development and making positive health related choices in a venue of fun, safe and challenging summer camp activities. There are three 10-day sessions scheduled each summer in which up to 100 teens and young adults will learn to mentor estimated 75 to 100 children over the course of the camps.

Saturday Academy
The Saturday Academy provides a safe environment on Saturday mornings for 20-40 elementary, middle and high school children. The Academy curriculum includes academic skills development, cultural and performing arts instruction, technology training, sports and health and fitness programs. Interwoven into all of these courses is a character development curriculum that promotes conflict resolution, self-confidence, respect and responsibility.

In School and After school
Through a grant received from the Department of Education we run programs during the course of the school day implementing a physical fitness cirriculum with a health component. After school we have programs in each of the three schools listed above with a focus on physical activities such as step team, cheerleading, football and basketball.

History:
HOPE worldwide and ODAAT have worked closely together in the community for over a decade. As a result, they have built a trust in the community through development and implementation of various services.

HOPE worldwide has a history of successful outreach and education programs that targeted current health disparities in the community. Through a program called HOPE for Kids, HOPE worldwide successfully implemented an immunization campaign, the outcome of which was measurable increases in the immunization rates for Philadelphia in 1995-97. As a result, the mayor declared April 1997 as HOPE for Kids month.

In 1997 HOPE worldwide made a commitment to America's youth to contribute one million volunteer hours over four years to help three million at-risk children gain access to vital health and education information and services. Through our HOPE for Kids program our volunteers surpassed this goal one year ahead of schedule, educating low-income families about immunization, children's health insurance, lead poisoning, asthma and other vital health issues. An independent study done by Columbia University showed that the HOPE for Kids outreach methods were 40% more effective than other health outreach models. HOPE worldwide has also partnered and participated with other health programs in the community such as Lead Safe Babies and Asthma Safe Kids. These programs demonstrated successful intervention for children at risk for these conditions.

Concurrently, HOPE worldwide Pennsylvania initiated partnerships to provide year round programming. These programs have evolved into our After-School programs, Summer HOPE Youth Corps and Saturday Academy. In 2003, HOPE worldwide was selected as one of the winners of the GlaxoSmithKline Impact award for the direct care and outreach services provided to the community. At this time, HOPE worldwide Pennsylvania made a difficult strategic decision to close the direct care portion of services and focus on the successful mentoring, education and health outreach programs. These are the programs operating today.

Contact person: Tricia Shanks, Program Director, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (610) 254-8989

Address:

353 W. Lancaster Ave Wayne, PA 19087 (See a map)

Web Site: http://hopeww.org

Directions:

All programs occur in North Philadelphia. Here is a listing: Duckrey Elementary 1501 W. Diamond Street Philadelphia, PA 19121 Meade Elementary 1600 N. 18th Street Philadelphia, PA 19121 Dunbar Elementary 1750 N. 12th Street Philadelphia, PA 19122 Martin Luther King Recreational Center 2101-35 Cecil B. Moore Philadelphia, PA 19121 Winchester Playground 2332 N 15th. . . (more)   Nearest Bus Stop: C Bus - Dauphin Stop, 5 minutes minute walk For maps or information, please see http://www.septa.com/

Miscellaneous Information

Are court referrals welcomed?
	No