October 31, 2023 – Indianapolis, IN – DREAM Alive and Elevate Indianapolis are excited to announce a deeper partnership and collaboration aimed at better serving our youth and community. Both organizations have a longstanding commitment to youth in center township Indianapolis, providing impactful mentoring, character development, and career support. As our collaborative efforts continue, it has become evident that we share a common mission and vision for the future of our youth and our city. We’ve also identified the ways in which we complement each other, and we’ve envisioned how we can achieve even greater impact by working together. Now, we are thrilled to deepen our partnership and collaboration.
In the coming year, we will embark on an intensified partnership, with a specific focus on enhancing our programming to better serve the youth of Indianapolis Public Schools in grades 6th through 12th. Our joint efforts will not only expand our reach to more IPS youth, but also allow us to engage with them on a deeper level, ultimately making a more significant impact. IPS students will have the opportunity to participate in comprehensive programming and mentoring designed to foster relationships, character development and career growth. These opportunities will be available 24/7, with programs before school, during school, and after school hours. Our holistic, accredited programs are all geared towards preparing these young individuals for their future career paths, whether it be employment, further education, or military service upon high school graduation.
“We believe that authentic partnerships are the foundation for long-term impact in our communities”, says Matt Conrad, board president for DREAM Alive. “We recognize that we are better together, and more importantly, our youth are the ones that benefit when we collaborate more effectively.”
Furthermore, the launch of our expanded joint collaboration in IPS is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s recent initiative, “Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana.” The aim of the competitive initiative is to help youth-serving organizations working throughout Indiana improve their abilities to promote the academic, physical and social well-being of young people, ages five through 18.
“This funding supports Elevate and Dream Alive to advance into the next phase of our strategic partnership in being better together for the students we collaboratively serve,” Aaron Story, President and CEO of Elevate Indianapolis.
Through this collaboration, both organizations will unite to offer the best of our youth development programs to IPS students, while also providing access to the full range of services offered by each nonprofit. Our expanded partnership will begin with an expansion into a new IPS middle school, and a deeper collaborative pipeline for DA and Elevate youth to receive programming from 6-12th grade. Our shared objective is to collectively serve 200 youths in 2024, but we firmly believe that this is just the beginning of a profound partnership dedicated to better serving the lives of the youth in our city.
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About DREAM Alive DREAM Alive (DA)’s mission is helping vulnerable youth break the cycle of poverty by developing career paths and mentoring them from 7th through 12th grade. DA’s 6-year continuum of mentor programming is designed to help youth develop a career path, develop soft skills, and develop a professional network before high school graduation. DA was originally founded by retired Indianapolis Colts’ Tarik Glenn in 2001. To learn more about DREAM Alive, please visit www.dreamaliveinc.org
About ELEVATE INDIANAPOLIS Elevate Indianapolis builds long-term, life-changing relationships with Indianapolis urban youth, equipping them to thrive and contribute to their community. They do this missional work with 4th through 12th graders and program alumni using a model developed through the Elevate USA for a network of affiliates. This program includes four key elements rooted in relationship: Accredited Classes in character & life skills during the school day and three types of after school mentoring with students–Pathways to Purpose college & career programming, “life on life” mentoring, and Sports & Adventure programming, executed by a staff of full-time Teacher-Mentors who are representative of the students we serve who spend approximately half their time with students during the school day and half their time with them after school in a 24/7/365 relational mentoring model where they are accessible to students on a personal basis. In the 2022-23 program year, Elevate Indianapolis served over 1,200 students. To learn more about Elevate, please visit www.elevateindy.org
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