Elevating Youth Success

Through this program, Elevate USA will reduce high school dropouts among high-risk youth in under resourced schools. The goal is to improve the ability of high-risk middle and high school students to complete high school and prepare for a positive future. This will be achieved by providing subawards to Elevate affiliates to mentor middle and high school students.

The target population served by this project is students in urban and rural public schools where
high school graduation rates are lowest. Elevate programs will be conducted in New York City;
Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts; Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tampa, Florida; Indianapolis,
Indiana; Denver, Colorado; Kansas City, Missouri; Dallas and Ft. Worth, Texas; Savannah,
Atlanta, and Augusta, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky; Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Alabama;
Santa Ana, California; the Navajo Nation (Arizona); Bridgeport, Connecticut; Seattle,
Washington; the Mescalero Apache Nation (Mescalero, New Mexico); and the Crow Nation
(Lodge Grass, Montana).

Elevate’s mission is to build long-term, life-changing relationships with urban youth, equipping
them to thrive and contribute to their community. Elevate accomplishes this by hiring full-time,
salaried mentors who come from similar backgrounds as the youth. These mentors build
relationships with mentees through teaching accredited school classes in the public schools,
mentoring outside of school, conducting adventure activities, and assisting mentees with a plan
for college or career after high school. Additionally, parents/caregivers/families are engaged
through home visits, family events, and local and national family engagement councils.

As a part of the project, Elevate will provide mentoring to high-risk middle and high school
students in large group, small group, and one-on-one settings. Eighty-five percent of those
enrolled will complete the one-year program, 85 percent of mentored high school students will
complete the necessary number of required credits to be on track to graduate, and all mentored
students will attend a minimum of 90 percent of school days throughout the school year. In
addition, Elevate will enhance and implement a multilevel (systemic, agency, and individual)
family engagement initiative.