Kids-U

A nonprofit organization

$15,945 raised by 63 donors

80% complete

$20,000 Goal

Support a Kids-U student today and help us reach our goal of $20,000!



Meet, Jamarcus! 

He loves participating in the programs at Kids-U RND and says this: 

"I try to learn new things at Kids-U, it helps me grow smarter! I love math, it's my favorite subject!" 


This past year Jamarcus made amazing progress with his schoolwork. When I first started at KIDS-U, he was one of my students who did not like to do our math program, Zearn. He would always put his head down and not attempt to do any work. As the school year went on, I learned that he loved doing the work, he just wanted words of encouragement to remind him that he was doing a wonderful job. Once I consistently reminded him that he was doing an amazing job and started celebrating all his accomplishments big and small, I saw major improvements. He became one of my top math students and completed at least two Zearn lessons a day. Not only did he improve, but he also started helping others with their math so that they can all progress together. As this new school year approaches, I'm excited to see what new heights he can reach and all his new accomplishments. We always remind each other that, "The Sky is not the limit, we can always go above and beyond that." - Greg Rodgers, OKM Kids-U@RND



$5,000 Matching Donation from our Board of Directors!

DONATE ONCE, MAKE TWICE THE IMPACT!

About Us:

Kids-U was co-founded in 2002 by Diana Baker and Paula DeGroat under the name Dallas Community Lighthouse as an after-school tutoring program for students in kindergarten through 8th grade. The purpose of the organization was to address the crisis of children in Dallas County not completing their education. Within the first year we expanded to meet the growing needs of our students and their families to include summer programming, monthly community dinners, Neighborhood Crime Watch programs, adult education, and many other family and community building programs, focusing on the whole child. In 2018 Kids-U was serving over 400 students at 12 sites in DFW Metroplex. Due to the pandemic, we lost several of our sites and are currently serving 6 locations and have a goal by the end of 2024 to be operating 12 sites, once again. Help us reach our goal to open 6 new sites by the end of 2024 and support the Kids-U mission: To improve the lives of children living in under-resourced communities by focusing on educational, personal, social, and environmental issues. Success Starts Here!  

Problem:

Underprivileged students were struggling before the pandemic; middle and high school students were three to four years behind students from high-income families. DISD Superintendent portrays that due to the pandemic this gap has now increased by a shocking 30% in reading and 50% in math. The pandemic devastated underprivileged children’s well-being and their families and disrupted children’s daily lives, posing greater risks to health, well-being, and development. Students who cannot keep up with their peers by the 8th grade are at the greatest risk for dropping out of high school, teenage pregnancy, and incarceration.


 

Meet, Greg!

"I love teaching at Kids-U because I feel like I am impacting children in an area where most people overlook them. It means the world to me knowing that I am helping my students not only with school, but with life. I enjoy the fact that I help them build up their confidence, character, and self esteem. When I graduated college I never imagined myself working with children but I believe God placed me in this position for a purpose. Something that started off as a job turned into something I passionately love to do!"



Solution: 

Kids-U programming is vital to the underprivileged students in the DFW area, as we aim to address the problem of learning loss and academic achievement by offering an approach which addresses four major areas consisting of: the individual student, the school, the family, and the community.  There is a massive need for Kids-U programming to expand throughout the DFW metroplex and reach as many children as possible. By focusing on the whole child, we are on the path to closing the achievement gap between lower income students and higher income students.

Why Donate:

Donations are critical for Kids-U to support our 6 current sites as well as to expand the number of sites we are operating to 12. With your generous donation and the help of our community through fundraising and grants we are planning on opening 6 new Kids-U sites by the end of 2024! In addition to this, our goal is to increase the reach of our programs by including pre-K, high school, and Kids-U Lite Programs. This expansion will allow us to increase our impact on students in impoverished areas and expand the number of sites and students we are currently serving.

 

Success Starts Here!

Mission

To improve the lives of children living in under-resourced communities by focusing on educational, personal, social, and environmental issues.

Needs

Donations and Volunteers are critical for Kids-U to support our 6 current sites and for us to reach our expansion goal of 12 sites by 2024!

Equity Statement

Kids-U commends equity, diversity, and inclusiveness. We embrace these pillars of excellence as crucial to healthy families and healthy communities. At Kids-U, we believe that academic excellence depends not only on a diverse body of students, families, and staff but, of equal importance, affirming and engaging the perspectives and backgrounds within our community.

At Kids-U we have always exhibited racial justice and equity. Upon founding Kids-U it was important to our co-founders that we include all children of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or age. We embrace every child, especially the low-income children. Inclusion for all children is especially important to us.

With the racial unrest these past couple of years we have 3 goals we look at meeting daily:

1. Ensure all children are treated fairly, given a voice and greater opportunities to succeed in an inclusive environment.

2. Provide social/emotional learning and character development for our students which is inclusive to all students and teachers: integrity, responsibility, respect, honesty, fairness and caring.

3. Strengthening not only the children we work with but their families by providing support to the entire family.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Kids-U

Tax id (EIN)

02-0653015

Guidestar

Causes

Employment & Workforce Development, Youth & Children, Education - K-12

Operating Budget

$1,000,000 - $2,999,999

Counties Served

Dallas, Tarrant

BIPOC Serving

Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx

BIPOC Leadership

Neither/None

Equity Statement

Equity Statement

Address

8515 Greenville Ave., Ste N214
Dallas, TX 75243

Phone

214-503-3672

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