Organization Name: Black Child & Family Institute (BCFI)
Organization Overview: Hope, Care & Love! Making a difference for the whole community.
BCFI is non-profit agency that was establish in 1986. It provides programs that serve kids, youth , young adults and families. We offer computer training classes, summer camps, after school tutoring, health and fitness, art mural painting classes, special events centered around the holidays.
Over its 30 years of operation, BCFI-Building Child and Family Initiatives mission to provide support and guidance for children and families has become more critical to Greater Lansing. BCFI-Building Child and Family Initiatives recognized the need to broaden its reach and transformed itself into a community empowerment center that aspires to strengthen the region through education, assistance and unique initiatives..
Building Child and Family Initiatives (BCFI) depends on financial support from generous donors to continue providing its valuable and essential services, programs and resources. Amidst tighter economic times, this support becomes even more valuable to BCFI-Building Child and Family Initiatives and the children, families and community members it serves. Please consider contributing to BCFI-Building Child and Family Initiatives and help us further our mission to make Greater Lansing a better place.
Building Child and Family Initiatives (BCFI) is the new incarnation of the Black Child and Family Institute founded in 1986 under the direction of Barbara Roberts Mason, then president of the Michigan State Board of Education. The Institute initially focused on addressing the crisis faced by African American children and families who were at higher risk for growing up poor, dropping out of school and becoming incarcerated.Now, more than 30 years later, BCFI-Building Child and Family Initiatives is reinventing itself in the Greater Lansing area as an organization that is recognized for serving ALL children and families, regardless of race, ethnicity or economic status.
Language: English
Cultures: African-American
Street: P.O. Box 4304
City/Township: East Lansing
State: MI
Zip Code: 48823
Country: Canada
Phone: (517) 290-3004
Email: buildingbcfi@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.bcfi-lansing.org/
Organization Name: Global Institute of Lansing
Organization Overview: EDUCATING AND GRADUATING THE CULTURES OF LANSING
The mission of GIL is to provide appropriate educational options for refugee and immigrant youth to complete high school and earn a diploma in an atmosphere of peace, respect encouragement and inspiration.
Many refugee youth who come to Lansing arrive in their late teenage years and they most often do not have enough time to earn all of the credits needed to graduate, often regardless of educational history or even English language fluency (although these are additional challenges to many refugee youth). To earn a high school diploma in Michigan students need to earn at least 48 academic credits, usually 12 credits per year or 6 credits per semester. Refugees who arrive at the age of 16 or above do not have enough time to earn these credits. English as a Second Language (ESL) classes do not count towards their academic requirements. Students are forced to leave public school at the age of 20, with or without a diploma.
The GIL founders saw first-hand the negative impact of the lack of graduation possibilities on the individual students and forecasted the overall negative impact on the struggling Lansing economy. The GIL is the only organization of its kind in this area and the only viable access these students have to obtain diplomas. Although some GED programs exist, the GED tests tend to be insurmountable for English Language Learners (ELL). The GIL classrooms offer a positive educational environment where English can be practiced and learned while the other academic subject areas are mastered.
The GIL takes refugee students after they have "aged-out" of high school and enrolls them in an accredited correspondence course, where they receive a diploma from James Madison High School (http://www.ashworthcollege.edu/programs/high-school/general-online/). Volunteer teachers and tutors help students with English and cultural comprehension to understand and accomplish the course work. The two primary supervisory teachers have life-time teaching certificates in the state of Michigan and the Director (also a volunteer) is a certified educational administrator with K-12 Michigan Teaching Certification.
The GIL’s overall purpose is to allow as many people as possible the opportunity to work for and achieve a high school diploma. With recent educational changes such as "No child left behind" and the new Michigan Merit Curriculum, and the new refugee populations arriving with less education and less English, high school graduations of refugees are becoming more infrequent. While students can attend high school in Michigan until age 20, newly arrived refugees are usually unable to earn enough credits for a high school diploma by the time they "age out." In the current economy, particularly in Michigan, it is nearly impossible to get any kind of job without a high school diploma.
GIL offers day classes for refugees. The classes are held at the First Presbyterian Church of Lansing and meet Monday through Wednesday from 10:00am to 2:00pm, Thursday from 11:00am to 2:00pm, and Friday from 9:00am to 12:00pm. The classes are taught by a group of volunteer teachers. Once students are enrolled in GIL, they are then enrolled in an accredited on-line high school completion program and placed in a classroom with volunteer teachers to assist them through the program. After passing through each of the required 24 courses, the students receive an accredited high school diploma. If a student has attended high school in the United States prior to enrolling in GIL, it is possible that some of the credits they earned previously will transfer and count towards the 24 credits required in our program.
Language: English
Cultures: All,Refugees or Asylees
Street: 510 W. Ottawa Street
City/Township: Lansing
State: MI
Zip Code: 48933
Country: USA
Phone: (517) 488-5342
Organization Name: Hype Athletics Community: Hype Recreational Center
Organization Overview: Who We Are
The Mission HYPE Athletics Community is to create and strengthen infrastructures that support the positive development of Wayne County youth through athletic participation and competition, educational tutoring and literacy development, and social awareness including mentoring, counseling, life skills training and substance abuse education and prevention.
Established in 2001, HYPE focused on providing communities with drug-free, violent-free and diverse athletic events and programs for kids and adults.
Today HYPE Athletics Community is deep-rooted, nonprofit community based organization that partners with federal, state and local agencies, corporations, foundations and leaders to provide services, programs. Support through our many community campaigns such as Feed Detroit, Tutor Challenge, Youth and Adult Athletic Programs, Fitness and Health Services and Education with ACT / SAT Support, Career and Leadership Development, Mentoring, Life Skills, Drug Prevention, Homework Assistance, Reading and Math Programs, Teach and Feed Green House Project and much more.
Renovating this metropolitan from a post-crisis region into a healthier, safer and quality environment will require talent and a brave new approach of thinking. HYPE is committed and equipped to be the change we want to see.
Language: Arabic,English
Cultures: All,American,Arabic
Street: 23302 W. Warren Ave.
City/Township: Dearborn Heights
State: MI
Zip Code: 48127
Country: USA
Phone: Who We Are The Mission HYPE Athletics Community is to create and strengthen infrastructures that support the positive development of Wayne County youth through athletic participation and competition, educational tutoring and literacy development, and social awareness including mentoring, counseling, life skills training and substance abuse education and prevention. Established in 2001, HYPE focused on providing communities with drug-free, violent-free and diverse athletic events and programs for kids and adults. Today HYPE Athletics Community is deep-rooted, nonprofit community based organization that partners with federal, state and local agencies, corporations, foundations and leaders to provide services, programs. Support through our many community campaigns such as Feed Detroit, Tutor Challenge, Youth and Adult Athletic Programs, Fitness and Health Services and Education with ACT / SAT Support, Career and Leadership Development, Mentoring, Life Skills, Drug Prevention, Homework Assistance, Reading and Math Programs, Teach and Feed Green House Project and much more. Renovating this metropolitan from a post-crisis region into a healthier, safer and quality environment will require talent and a brave new approach of thinking. HYPE is committed and equipped to be the change we want to see.
Website: http://www.hypeathletics.org/
Organization Name: Samaritas (Lutheran Social Services of Michigan (LSSM) - Refugee Resettlement Central Michigan)
Organization Overview: Refugee Services
Refugees are people of all ages who are forced from their own countries by war or political unrest and who cannot return for fear of persecution because of their race, ethnicity, religion or political affiliations. Many spend years in refugee camps before they are given permission to enter the United States. They arrive with little more than the clothes they are wearing.
Refugees come here seeking protection and a chance to build a new life. They are eager to learn, to work and to become productive contributors to society. As they become settled, they build businesses, create jobs, revitalize neighbourhoods, fuel the economy and strengthen the tax base, enriching their communities.
Lutheran Social Services of Michigan has been the Michigan affiliate of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service since the 1950s. In 2002, Lutheran Social Services became the Michigan affiliate of Episcopal Migration Ministries as well. As the largest refugee resettlement agency in the state, Lutheran Social Services has resettled thousands of people from dozens of countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Central and South America.
Language: Arabic,English
Cultures: Arabic,Bosnian,Chaldean,Iraqi,Refugees or Asylees,Syrian
Street: Nussdorfer Center 1545 Keystone
City/Township: Lansing
State: MI
Zip Code: 48911
Country: USA
Phone: (517) 321-7663
Organization Name: Samaritas (Lutheran Social Services of Michigan (LSSM) - Refugee Resettlement, West Michigan)
Organization Overview: Refugees are people forced to leave their country of residence because of war or political turmoil. We are Michigan's largest private refugee resettlement organization. We provide sponsorship, immigration assistance, legal services and assistance with resettlement and acculturation. Since the mid-1970s, we have resettled thousands of refugees.
Language: English
Cultures: Refugees or Asylees
Street: 207 E. Fulton Street; 4th Floor
City/Township: Grand Rapids
State: MI
Zip Code: 49503
Country: USA
Phone: (616) 356-1934
Email: ccava@lssm.org
