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EDUCATION | FAITH LEADERS | FOOD SECURITY | HEALTH & WELLNESS |NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT
MAY 2021 • ISSUE 2
EDUCATION The Learning Lab was started in October of 2020 to help McKinney-Vento students in kindergarten through 8th grade with academic enrichment, physical fitness activities, and provided a hot breakfast, a hot lunch and snack daily. The McKinney-Vento Act provides rights and services to children and youth experiencing homelessness, which includes those who are: sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; staying in motels, in shelters or transitional housing; or sleeping in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, or substandard housing. Northside Baptist Church partnered with the Prodigal Son Foundation, Atrium Health, Embrace Your Truth, Harvesting Humanity, Men of Destiny, Just for You Barber/Styling Academy, Read Charlotte, CMPD and CMS to ensure students were getting much needed support in remote learning. Funding from the Steve Smith Foundation for K through 6th grade students allowed the Learning Lab to focus on middle and high school students that often go without resources and programs. The partners hold a call once a week to talk about goals, objectives and collaborate on ways to increase success metrics. Just for Your Barber provides free haircuts to any student that wants one. Since Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools is now fully open for students, the Learning Lab will reopen in the summer thanks to funding from the United Way and Safe Charlotte to continue their work of giving academic support, mentoring and increased access to social capital to the students they serve. When asked if they had any surprises, Leroy Wray, founder and Executive Director of the Prodigal Son Foundation and lead for the UCITY Family Zone education community of practice, shared the staff was surprised by the how some of the high school students did not want to return to ‘traditional” school.
He is working with Erik Turner, the principal of Vance High, Rob Rogers, owner of a University City Chick-fil-A and council member of University City Connect and other local leaders to create an intentional dropout prevention approach to help students that are struggling with both in-person and remote learning. Leroy and the Learning Lab team hopes UCITY Family Zone member organizations will continue to volunteer, mentor and share more funding opportunities and resources. He also hopes the Charlotte, Mecklenburg community will advocate and stay informed of the needs of McKinney Vento students. His wish is for $1 million dollars to serve more students, increase access to social capital and to accomplish the Prodigal Son Foundation’s mission to help empower, educate and engage students and families. . If you would like to know more about the Learning Lab, Prodigal Son, or the UCITY Family Zone Education Community of Practice, please contact Dr. Wray at prodigalsonfoundation@gmail.com.