We have big dreams for our community in East Charlotte. After being consistently present in the community for over 5 years, we now understand the needs of the community and how to effectively address those needs. If we provide the community with education and support they will, in turn, be empowered to support their own community.
The Statistics
serving area youth from broken homes
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.
90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.
85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Center for Disease Control)
70% of youths in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Sept. 1988)
85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Fulton Co. Georgia, Texas Dept. of Correction)
75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.
Our Programs
Health Initiative
Communities with less education or income tend to live in neighborhoods which lack access to nutritious foods and safe places to exercise. We want to see community members empowered through health education to reclaim their health.
Every Wednesday night, the Abandon Project provides transportation and hosts free weekly cooking classes at CityChurch with a professional cook. In addition, once a month, we have a special seminar featuring a licensed health professional to speak about relevant health and wellness topics. During the Spring and Summer, we also offer a free workout class to the community every Tuesday at the local park.
Neighborhood Initiative
Being the people, in their environment has been one of the most powerful and effective things we have done. Many programs call kids OUT of their neighborhood, but we feel change happens with the people, in their own environment. On Monday evenings, we have what is called our “Neighborhood Initiative” where we place volunteers in forgotten neighborhoods to do life with our kids and families. During this program, we are relationship based, where we separate into groups and focus on crucial issues that involve spiritual, practical, and wholistic issues. Our goal is to assist kids who become loving, hard working, and sustainable in their lives. Fish for a man you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and he eats for his entire life, you’ve heard this before, but so true in our communities. Come out and volunteer!
Mentoring
The East Charlotte Community is one of the most impoverished and underserved communities in Charlotte. Our students have experienced a lot of instability in their lifetime and desperately need and desire unconditional love and genuine support. What better way to make a difference in their lives than to become a mentor?
We have several opportunities to mentor to our students from our basketball program partnership with the YMCA on Wednesdays, to our community outreach on Monday nights, and the young women’s leadership meetings.
Basketball Leadership
Our young men love Basketball, we use the game to draw these kids and teach them holistic living. That includes training in financial literacy, healthy relationships, forgiveness, love, etc. Our goal is to produce holistically healthy young men, who love theirselves, their neighbors, and their community. If you Love basketball and want to find beauty and purpose by becoming a mentor, please reach out to us.
Summer Camps
Most of our kids have never been outside the city of Charlotte, NC. Being able to take them to a summer camp and provide a completely new experience for them is priceless.We have partnered with Camp Cedarcliff in Asheville, NC. to make that dream come true. We would love for you to consider helping sponsor a kid attend a summer camp in order to give them an experience of a life time.
Options Program
We have worked in East Charlotte neighborhoods for 7 years, and many of the kids that have come through our program are now 18 or older. Although the majority of our programs don’t cater to young adults, we have had the opportunity to do various job trainings and also assist in young adults finding jobs. In addition to helping kids in their careers, a huge part of our Options program is teaching work ethic, communication skills, and also providing assessments and strength finders for them in order to point them in the correct direction. We also believe in the power of starting healthy businesses so that we can provide funds for our organization while providing jobs and teaching skills.