Loaves and Fishes HistoryBeginning
Loaves and Fishes began in 1982 as a summer
enrichment program for twelve first and second grade children living in the
Halifax Court federal housing community in downtown Raleigh, N.C. It was located
at Westminster Presbyterian Church and was originally funded by The Westminster
Foundation and The Presbyterian Urban Council of Raleigh. In 1983, a grant was
awarded by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and the program expanded to include
a daily after-school program for children in grades K-2. The not-for-profit
organization was incorporated in the summer of 1984.
Early Years
Additional significant funding in the early years
was provided by the C. C. Mangum construction company and the Junior League of
Raleigh. The original goal of providing early intervention eventually gave way
to continued intervention as the children grew older and demonstrated a need as
well as the desire for ongoing support. A one-to-one program matching children
in grades 3-5 with coping adult friends was established in the late 1980's. This
highly structured "study buddy" program, which focused on nurturing meaningful
adult-child relationships, academics and the development of special interests,
was held at night during the school year. Each Study Buddy team attended the
program once a week and had its own special outing each month. A similar program
for 6th-8th graders soon followed with an added opportunity for peer group
interaction and a training program to prepare them for working with the younger
children during the summer. The final program added in the 1980's was Star Track
which was also a one-to-one adult/child match program designed to help high
school students reach certain goals they had set for themselves.
Growth
In 1990 the program moved to its current location
at Milner Memorial Presbyterian Church. By this time it had gained the financial
support of many individuals and faith communities as well as some businesses and
civic groups. n 1994, six of the children who participated in the first LAF
summer program graduated from high school. One is currently on our staff as
Youth Academic Coordinator. Since 1994, only seven other students have continued
through our programs and graduated. This may seem like a low number, but we are
very proud of these students because they have overcome a lot of adversity to
succeed. The reason that the number of success stories dropped so drastically is
that we started taking children with severe learning deficits. The average
kindergarten student entering Loaves and Fishes today has the academic and
social skills of a 3-year-old. Without outside intervention, all of these
children would likely fall through the cracks.
Expansion
After our first group of students finished high
school, we took a look at our programs and determined that the next order of
business should be to expand our daily after-school program to include 3rd-5th
graders. Since that was accomplished, nearly 100% of our students have entered
middle school either on grade level or in an appropriate special education
placement. Unfortunately, middle school has been an impossible hurdle for most
of our children to clear. Until recently, they have simply not been prepared for
the many changes that inevitably occur during that time in their lives. These
include peer pressure to not do well academically, raging hormones, the need to
take risks, changing classes and teachers for every subject, increased
self-consciousness, and fewer opportunities for experiential learning. Next up
for Loaves and Fishes: a more comprehensive program for middle school students!
In the spring of 2000, Loaves and Fishes was the beneficiary of a huge
fundraising event in Washington, D.C. called "Taste of the South." This provided
the boost we needed to not only expand our middle school program but the high
school program as well.
Success
In the fall of 2000, we hired our first Family
Support Coordinator who immediately became more more involved in supporting the
parents and helping them to become more involved in their children's education.
The impact this effort has made on the whole family has enabled us to serve the
individual children more effectively, and represents a recent significant
milestone. A second significant milestone was completing our 20th year of
service to children in our community. A celebration event will take place
sometime during the coming year. Also, our two co-founders are still on staff
having just completed their second sabbatical. Although they returned with
renewed vigor, vision and commitment, they both realize their decreased energy
level and have asked the board to assign the Strategic Planning Committee the
task of creating, with their help, the most effective way of transitioning the
organization into new leadership over the next few years. Third, our first two
students to enter high school after two years of participation in our new daily
after-school program for middle schoolers are both on grade level and have been
placed in the college preparatory track. Finally, after working for
several years on the problem of daily transportation as well as communication
with teachers, counselors, and other personnel from multiple elementary, middle,
and high schools, we are pleased this year to finally have all children enrolled
in just a few schools - all chosen because of their staff's willingness to work
with us, their unique commitment to our population of children, and the
compatibility of their curriculum goals with ours. Groups of children will be
delivered to us daily from Poe Montessorie Elementary, Partnership Elementary,
Centennial Campus Middle, Moore Square Middle and Southeast High. Special
Education students will be delivered from Hunter Elementary, and Powell
Elementary.
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