Project SOARA Two Year Demonstration ProjectPresented by 100 Black Men of America, Inc.

The Multi-State Mentoring Program provides funding to support established mentoring organizations in their efforts to strengthen and/or expand their existing mentoring activities within local chapters or sub-awardees in five or more states to reduce juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, truancy, and other problem and high-risk behaviors. FY 2014 funding will address the factors that can lead to or serve as a catalyst for delinquency or other problem behaviors in underserved youth, including youth in high-risk environments, children of incarcerated parents and tribal youth. The program is comprised of three categories: Category 1 for organizations implementing one-on-one mentoring programs, Category 2 for Group mentoring programs and Category 3 for a combination of both one-on-one and group mentoring.

100 Black Men of America, Inc. will implement Project SOAR (Student Opportunities, Access & Readiness), a male mentorship initiative that targets at-risk, high risk and underserved African-American youths, ages 12-17 years old, in ten (10) urban cities across the country, including: Oakland/Bay Area, Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans, Detroit, Kansas City, MO, Camden, NJ/Philadelphia, PA, Cleveland, Washington, DC and Milwaukee. The project encompasses the 100 Black Men of America's Success Academy and the Career Academy, two life skills institutes directly serving 1,100 African-American boys which offers them access to, and long term relationships with, professional African-American men. Project SOAR's goal is to help reduce juvenile delinquency and the general sense of hopelessness that pervades young African-American males by developing a targeted effort to reduce truancy rates and increase high school graduation rates in the aforementioned cities. Another program goal is to further promote public safety and citizenship by encouraging accountability for acts of juvenile delinquency, and reversing the effects of delinquent behavior on underserved communities, through mandated community service for all students participating in the program. This requirement will help to further reduce the rates and opportunities for juvenile delinquency in distressed communities. In addition, the grantee will offer ongoing training and support for both mentors and mentees through its proprietary online training platform, Mentoring the 100 Way Across A Lifetime, which is designed to provide participants with the resources and skills they need to develop successful mentoring relationships. The grantee will also indirectly impact students over the life of the program through the lessons and learning modules provided to them via the development of a free, proprietary mobile application. CA/NCF