Spirit of Generosity -- Supporting Our Teens

The following article is featured in the Summer 2017 edition of News From HOME, our quarterly print newsletter.  You can read the whole newsletter online here.  If you want to subscribe, click here.

The EITC program, sponsored through the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), offers participating businesses a tax credit equal to 75 percent of their contribution to a nonprofit like Project HOME. 

We have opted to partner with several corporations and put their financial support to work in our Teen Program, which provides meaningful opportunities for at-risk youth in our Lower North Philadelphia neighborhood. The Teen Program prepares our students for, and ensures they succeed in, post-secondary education. Through a multi-disciplinary approach, the Program addresses critical barriers and provides young adults with the tools they need to improve academically, develop workforce skills, graduate from high school, and pursue college degrees or certifications.

For any young person, doing well in school requires hard work combined with encouragement and support. Coming from economically challenged neighborhoods, underperforming schools, and often unstable family situations, post-high school education success may seem out of reach.

Thanks to our dedicated EITC corporate sponsors (see graphic below), more than 100 students achieved great successes last year and are one step closer to becoming strong and vibrant leaders of tomorrow. As part of the Teen Program and our College Access Programs, 39 high school students are enrolled in the after school program; 44 young people are enrolled in college;  29 students have graduated with post-secondary degrees (2 having received master’s degrees); and more than 70 high school and college students are employed this summer through the Connors Youth Employment Program. 

There is no question that, without the compassion and leadership of these business partners and many others, our work would not be possible!  Many thanks to our education heroes!  

Your business can help transform the lives of young people in Philadelphia through this program in 2017-18.  Find out how by contacting Joe Carlucci, Director of Institutional Giving, at 215-232-7272 or [email protected] for more information.