YOUTH BELIEVING IN CHANGE INC

Description

In 1994, Vince Gaddis began teaching violence prevention at Franklin Junior High School in Dallas. He also tutored children at the Vickery After-School House. The children responded to Vince’s teaching and tutoring. However, the community in which they lived had no programs that were conducive to the emotional, educational and spiritual development of children and youth.

On June 6, 1995, a youth leadership council was formed. Eventually the group chose the name Youth Believing in Change (YBC). With no place to call home, YBC began to meet in various places ranging from the Vickery After-School House to pizza parlors, restaurants, empty apartments and the apartment of a parent who had children in YBC.

In 1997, YBC began meeting in the Fellowship Bible Church building. During the summer of 1998, YBC hosted their first annual Summer Evangelism, Reading & Life Skills Training Program.

As a follow-up to YBC’s Summer Program, an after-school homework program began in the fall of 1998. After assessing the needs of the children in the Vickery Community and the services being provided, Youth Believing in Change amended its mission statement to reflect those needs and services. There are more than 4,828 school-aged children in the Vickery community.