My Nonprofit Reviews
bemmerling
Review for Communities in Schools of Ohio, Columbus, OH, USA
If you are looking for a charity to support, this is it. The facts are fairly simple and clear: improved academic success leads to higher graduation rates, which creates opportunity to succeed in life. CIS gets to kids before poverty, homelessness, violence, and substance abuse become barriers to learning. How? By creating RELATIONSHIPS rather than programs to reach kids. The organization works directly with school administrators, parents, and community leaders to identify children and families that may have needs beyond the scope of a normal educational experience. CIS then brings to bear existing community resources to meet those needs. These services include tutoring, mentoring, after-school programs, food, housing, clothing, leadership training, gang intervention and prevention, physical and mental health education, and substance abuse intervention, among others. CIS has a proven, quantitative track record of keeping kids in school.
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
Seeing kids develop through the mentoring program to graduate from high school and go on to college. Several kids who were helped by Communities in Schools have come back to be part of the CIS staff, helping others achieve the same success they have experienced.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Find a way to get the CIS resources into more schools.
