Young scholars in the Perkins Home community in Baltimore work to overcome barriers to their education with the help of the USI Baltimore staff.
Showing Up With Dwayne
School attendance for many can be a hurdle, but local Baltimore scholar, Dwanye, is clearing that hurdle with support from the USI Baltimore team. As COVID-19 turned the world upside-down and vastly changed the expectations of school for millions of youth, Dwanye found himself faltering in the face of the newly enforced online school environment. Gradually, his attention and attendance slipped.
With assistance from our Educational and Family Support Specialists in the Perkins Homes community, Dwanye found himself refocusing and returning to class with determination. Having altered his own schedule to fit with the online classes, Dwanye has turned the curve of his story and has found a new energy for his studies.
Since we partnered with the Perkins Homes community in Baltimore in 2018, we’ve reduced chronic absenteeism in students by 27%.
Staying After School with Dayonda
Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, local Perkins Homes scholar, Dayonda, had been unable to complete mandatory hours for community and volunteer service expected by her school. Determined to complete the task, Dayonda sought out the assistance of Education and Family Support Specialists from USI Baltimore, to assist with overcoming this challenge
Now with USI’s support, she eagerly works toward launching the Youth Council in Perkins that seeks to provide youth and their opinions a platform for change within the community.
Since USI partnered with the Perkins Homes community in Baltimore, we increased school-aged children participating in quality out-of-school programs to 80%!
Enrolling in Higher Education with Brikaya
For Brikaya, a Perkins Homes scholar, Family Support provided by USI Baltimore has helped her find options for college enrollment.
But as COVID-19’s impact spread throughout 2020, the potential for physical college tours plummeted as campuses closed to flatten the curve. For many high school seniors, like Brikaya, the inability to learn more about different colleges and universities was a massive disappointment.
However, with the access to free virtual tours that USI gave to Brikaya, she now is considering colleges she’d like to attend in the fall. One being Penn State, which contains her preferred major and is close to home!
In the Perkins Homes, Baltimore community, 95% of families are enrolled in Family Support services provided by USI.
Using Data to Support Our Scholars
In all of USI’s 35+ neighborhoods across the nation, we work diligently to collect, analyze, and utilize data to ensure those neighborhoods are being impacted in the best ways to guide them to stable and thriving. You can see how we’ve used that data from our Baltimore neighborhood and the success stories resulting from that work in our 2020 Baltimore Site Report.