Y.O.U. Awarded $635,000 for Expanded Programming in Partnership with District 65

We are thrilled to announce that Y.O.U. was awarded a $635,000 Community Partnership Grant from the Illinois State Board of Education. This funding will support post-pandemic opportunity gaps in teaching and learning with a specific focus on social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health needs.

Y.O.U. will use this funding in several ways. We are piloting program expansions at both King Arts and Dawes Elementary schools in Evanston this spring. Y.O.U. is expanding programming at King Arts from middle school grades to now include youth in grades 3-8. Programming at Dawes will expand to 2nd grade to serve grades 2-5. Funding also will support our deepened academic support, social-emotional learning, and enrichments at all 7 partner schools in District 65.

Additionally, funding will be used to meet the huge demand for case management and counseling services. Y.O.U. saw a 365% increase in demand for case management and counseling services at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the JED Foundation, 31% of parents say their children’s mental or emotional health is worse than before the pandemic. The American Academy of Pediatrics has declared a National State of Emergency in Children’s Mental Health, noting that youth of color have been disproportionately impacted. 

Y.O.U.’s Out-of-School Time (OST) Program serves 7 Title I schools in Evanston/Skokie Community Consolidated School District 65: Chute Middle, Dawes Elementary, Dr. Martin Luther King Literacy & Fine Arts, Nichols Middle, Oakton Elementary, Walker Elementary, and Washington Elementary. Over the course of a school year, our OST Program serves an average of 600 students through afterschool and full-day summer programming.

We are grateful for our many enrichment providers and to District 65 for the continued—and expanded—partnership.