ADOPT A FIRSTÂ GRADER
At-risk youth are growing up in high poverty areas. Children are being impacted and lacking opportunities where they can learn, play, and grow. It is documented that minority children are seven times more likely to grow up in poverty and live in a one parent household. These outcomes support the growing need of active mentorship especially for those who look like themselves.
The Jarvis Gibson Foundation continues to support youth beginning as early as entering the 1st grade. There is evidence that support that engaging youth in their younger and more formative years, and engage over a period of time, reaps outcomes that demonstrate an increase in behavioral change. Adopt a First Grader is one of the three signature programs of the foundation that provide opportunities for those youth who experience barriers to a thriving, healthy, and safe environment. Adopt a First Grader upholds the vision, mission, and values of the Jarvis Gibson Foundation.
The Jarvis Gibson Foundation, with the inclusion of partners such as Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. identifies one (1) elementary school per school year up to twenty-five (25) students. The outreach team will engage with them a total of four (4) times per year: