RAIN OF HOPE INC

Description

Rain of Hope, Inc., began programming in August 2013. Rain of Hope's mission is to empower individuals from 3 to 103 and to help them develop leadership and social skills which, in turn, will create stronger and more caring families and communities. RoH offers four youth programs: Seniors Matter, Lyrics n' Music Matters, Friendship Matters and Community Matters (http://rainofhope.org/in-community-youth-programs/). Currently, these programs run after school in the New Haven Public School District and are available to all students regardless of ethnicity or income. Since New Haven School District is a Title 1 District, a large percentage of students in our program (do we have an approximate percentage?) are low income - those affected the most by the educational achievement gap; also, those whose parents cannot afford quality after school programs.

Rain of Hope's programs are fun and engaging and include community service learning projects that the students choose. We teach children as young as kindergarten that their choices and actions impact others; we empower them to understand complex issues facing our community and work to solve problems collaboratively. RoH programs teach individuals why they should choose to help their community and how doing so gives them voice and brings change to their world. RoH fosters the fundamental leadership skills individuals needed to achieve success.