Advancing Black Lives in Education (ABLE)
Advancing Black Lives in Education (ABLE) (advancingblacklives.org) was established specifically to address the needs of Black children during the pandemic. The organization focuses on addressing educational inequities during this time and beyond by providing academic and social-emotional supports to Black children and their families,
Headquartered: Bethesda
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $80 provides books that focus on Black history for 20 students in grades 2-5 for book talks.
• $300 funds a cultural field trip focusing on Black history self-actualization activities for high school students.
• $10,000 supports non-school days/summer camp activities for middle schoolers that focus on STEM activities.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Help with special events.
• Ongoing: Read stories to young students on a virtual platform or assist with office support.
• SSL
• Internships
Artivate
Artivate (goartivate.org) celebrates the arts as an essential part of everyday life, creating dynamic interactive experiences in schools, libraries, theaters and other community sites, including the Montgomery County Correctional Facility and youth detention centers, through Project Youth ArtReach. Working with dozens of professional artists, Artivate engages children, teens and families through performances and workshops representing a range of artistic disciplines and cultural traditions.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Metro region
What a donation buys:
• $250 pays for a West African drumming workshop for court-involved teens.
• $500 funds a cultural arts performance for 350 students at a Title I school.
• $1,000 provides key support for a six-week painting residency at the county correctional facility.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Help with a special event.
• Ongoing: Provide office support (post COVID-19).
Arts on the Block
Arts on the Block (artsontheblock.com) empowers youths to shape fulfilling futures, join the creative workforce, and contribute to community through real-world arts and entrepreneurship. Given tech and art materials, Youth Arts Movement (YAM) children and families explore STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics) learning in English and Spanish. In The Apprentice Program, creative teens earn a stipend or SSL hours while learning art, design practice and career options. Apprentices graduate to Studio Crew positions, high-profile art commissions and customized career planning.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Metro region
What a donation buys:
• $500 provides portfolio materials and training for one apprentice.
• $1,000 supplies a tablet and Wi-Fi for a YAMer.
• $2,500 covers a “Block Talk” conversation with industry leaders.
Volunteer opportunities:
• Weekly: Host an online fundraiser.
• Monthly: Mentor a preprofessional creative.
• SSL
• Internships
Asian American LEAD
Asian American LEAD (aalead.org) supports low-income and underserved Asian Pacific American youths (kindergarten through college age) with academic development, decision-making for their academic futures, leadership skills and improved healthy concepts of self through after-school, summer and mentoring programs.
Headquartered: Rockville
Serves: Metro region
What a donation buys:
• $250 covers the cost of an educational workshop for 50 youths.
• $1,000 supports one youth with one year of Asian American LEAD programming.
• $10,000 supports 10 youths with one year of Asian American LEAD programming.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Lead an educational or career workshop.
• Weekly/monthly: Volunteer at an after-school program or mentor a young person.
• Internships
Center for Adoption Support and Education
Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) (adoptionsupport.org) improves the lives of children who have been adopted or are in foster care and their families through counseling, lifelong education and a growing national network of trained professionals. C.A.S.E. is a community resource for mental health services for adoptive, foster and kinship families and for the professionals who serve them.
Headquartered: Burtonsville
Serves: Metro region
What a donation buys:
• $25 provides a workbook for a struggling teen to learn from others’ stories and navigate adoption-related issues.
• $280 covers a comprehensive mental health assessment for a child to begin treatment.
• $750 enables two teens to participate in a five-week therapy group to normalize feelings about adoption and reduce their sense of isolation.
Volunteer opportunities:
• Ongoing: Provide support for special events.
Crittenton Services of Greater Washington
Crittenton Services of Greater Washington (crittentonservices.org) helps 600 teenage girls annually achieve academic success, make healthy choices and chart their own bright futures. Through proven curricula, Crittenton helps teenage girls believe in their ability to succeed—even in the face of significant challenges. The organization’s virtual and school-based programs teach teenage girls to value their education, build healthy relationships, speak up for their own needs and explore paths toward college and careers.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Metro region
What a donation buys:
• $250 provides a parent to attend our workshops on supporting their teen daughter academically and emotionally.
• $1,500 underwrites the costs for a Crittenton teen for an entire year.
• $10,000 sends 15 teenage girls to Crittenton’s Leadership Academy.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Help with supply drives for students.
• Ongoing: Serve as an executive adviser or board member.
• Internships
• SSL
Community Bridges
Community Bridges (communitybridges-md.org) empowers girls from diverse backgrounds in elementary, middle and high schools to become exceptional students, positive leaders and healthy young women. Each year, the organization supports more than 425 girls at 17 public schools in discovering their unique identity, voice and potential through leadership development, college and career readiness, family support and mentoring.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $250 covers the annual activity fees for 10 girls in the program.
• $1,600 sponsors one girl for the year.
• $10,000 supports one-on-one college planning for 30 high school seniors.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Become a volunteer for food and supply delivery.
• Monthly: Mentor a high school or middle school girl.
• SSL
• Internships
GapBuster
GapBuster (gapbuster.org) is an educational program dedicated to promoting higher levels of achievement and closing the performance gap of students by enriching and supplementing their learning experience. Through educational, enrichment programs and leadership development training, GapBuster develops well-rounded individuals positioned to excel in academic, social and professional environments.
Headquartered: Rockville
Serves: Montgomery and Prince George’s counties
What a donation buys:
• $250 pays for five individual tutoring sessions to help reduce COVID learning loss and promote academic success.
• $1,000 supports STEM education programming for 10 students at a Title I school.
• $10,000 supports an international virtual exchange/STEM program for 100 low-income students.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day/plus: Help with the organization’s annual anniversary.
• Ongoing: Provide social media and office support, tutoring or mentoring.
• SSL
• Internships
GB Youth Media
GB Youth Media (youthmediamd.org) is a media arts organization focused on social justice and the voices of youths. In GBYM’s program The Promoters, a group of students ages 12 through 25 learn media arts skills to tell their personal stories and to advance humanitarian causes. The students use GBYM’s website, newsletter and social media accounts to promote their art and videos and to support their peers.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: 5-mile radius of Langley Park
What a donation buys:
• $75 buys video/graphic design software for two months.
• $250 buys internet access for six months.
• $500 pays 10 submission fees to national film festivals.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Coach a Promoter on a job or college application.
• Weekly: Deliver art supplies, books, food and personal supplies to teens in Hyattsville and Silver Spring.
• SSL
• Internships
Hearts & Homes for Youth
Hearts & Homes for Youth (heartsandhomes.org) supports youths who have experienced abuse, neglect, mental health challenges, homelessness and other trauma. In Montgomery County, Hearts & Homes operates four residential programs, a therapeutic foster program and a mother-baby program, serving more than 75 youths each night. The organization strives to build brighter futures for the youths, their families and the community.
Headquartered: Burtonsville
Serves: Maryland
What a donation buys:
• $250 covers the cost of new backpacks and school supplies for five youths.
• $1,000 covers a month of day care for a baby.
• $10,000 pays for six months of therapeutic mental health services.
Volunteer opportunities:
• Volunteer opportunities are temporarily suspended due to COVID-19.
Horizons Greater Washington
Horizons Greater Washington (horizonsgreaterwashington.org) prepares students from low-income families to succeed by building academic and life skills outside the traditional school year. The organization fosters a joyful environment full of academic, artistic and athletic activities that inspire young minds and build a love of learning. Students attend the Horizons program for nine years, from kindergarten through eighth grade. Horizons serves nearly 400 students annually.
Headquartered: Washington, D.C.
Serves: Metro region
What a donation buys:
• $50 provides classroom supplies for 10 students.
• $100 serves a healthy snack to 50 students during one program day.
• $500 provides two STEM kits for 20 students.
Volunteer opportunities:
• Weekly: Share your career or hobby with students, or assist with classroom activities.
• SSL
Identity
Identity (identity-youth.org) works with Latino and other historically underserved youths and their families, benefiting more than 50,000 residents annually, after school, in the community and on playing fields. Identity helps youths develop social and emotional skills, do better in school, and get ready for work, providing emergency and intensive case management, nonclinical emotional support, counseling and other wraparound services.
Headquartered: Gaithersburg
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $250 helps 25 students practice reading at home, getting them on the road to reading at grade level and beyond.
• $500 helps five promotoras (community members trained to provide basic health education) co-facilitate support groups for parents coping with anxiety, stress and grief exacerbated by the pandemic.
• $1,000 helps three disconnected youths with GED tutoring and job training.
Volunteer opportunities:
• Occasional: Help with sports tournaments and other events during school holidays.
• SSL
Imagination Library of Montgomery County, MD
Imagination Library of Montgomery County, MD (imaginationlibrarymcmd.org) provides free, new, age-appropriate books to children from birth to age 5 by mailing one book each month to the child’s home in his/her name. Currently serving 825 children in the county, it is an affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The program promotes family reading, a love of learning and kindergarten readiness.
Headquartered: Glen Echo
Serves: Children in five ZIP code areas in Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $125 buys books for one child for five full years.
• $1,000 buys one book for 465 children.
• $2,500 buys books for 100 children for one full year.
Volunteer opportunities:
• Ongoing: Provide support to staff and work on special projects.
KID Museum
KID Museum (kid-museum.org) is the Washington region’s pioneering community learning space, designed to inspire the next generation to be creative leaders, inventors and changemakers. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, KID Museum continued to engage students, teachers and families with hands-on programs that introduce STEM skills such as coding, robotics and design thinking, while preserving the museum’s signature inquiry- and exploration-based approach to learning and making.
Headquartered: Bethesda
Serves: Metro region
What a donation buys:
• $100 provides educational supply kits and support materials for one child.
• $500 supports a semester of after-school programming for one child.
• $1,000 covers the cost of a robotics bundle for six students.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Help with a special event.
• Ongoing: Provide support for marketing and general operations.
• SSL
• Internships
Latin American Youth Center (LAYC)/Maryland Multicultural Youth Centers
Latin American Youth Center (LAYC)/Maryland Multicultural Youth Centers (layc-dc.org) reaches about 5,000 at-risk youths in the region annually through job readiness training, paid internships, work experience, GED instruction, college preparation, case management, mentoring and leadership development. In fiscal year 2020, LAYC helped more than 200 Montgomery County teens obtain employment certification, paid job placement or a GED.
Headquartered: Washington, D.C.
Serves: Metro region
What a donation buys:
• $100 buys 25 bags of food for LAYC youths and their families.
• $250 buys internet access for one youth to participate in virtual programming for three months.
• $500 covers a four-week internship for a youth.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Become a motivational guest speaker to the youth program.
• Weekly: Make deliveries for food distribution to LAYC youths and families.
• SSL
• Internships
Latino Student Fund
Latino Student Fund (latinostudentfund.org) provides opportunities to build a strong academic foundation for underserved pre-K through 12th grade students in the region. By providing year-round, out-of-school-time programs to low-income, at-risk students and their families, the Latino Student Fund increases levels of educational attainment in the community.
Headquartered: Washington, D.C.
Serves: D.C., Prince George’s County and Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $125 provides adult education through ESOL and computer classes.
• $250 funds virtual mentoring for high school recent arrivals.
• $500 funds one week of summer college prep.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Prep for the annual gala or serve as a career panel speaker.
• Ongoing: Conduct one-on-one tutoring with a kindergarten to 12th grade student or serve as a virtual mentor or college prep tutor for high school students.
• SSL
• Internships
Liberty’s Promise
Liberty’s Promise (libertyspromise.org) engages first-generation and immigrant youths through programming that includes civic/community engagement, career and college readiness, and internships with government agencies, small businesses or nonprofit organizations. Liberty’s Promise serves at least 400 county youths annually.
Headquartered: Alexandria, Virginia
Serves: Metro region
What a donation buys:
• $250 covers meals for 30 youths at six program sessions.
• $500 pays the Metro fares for 70 youths to tour Washington, D.C., sites.
• $5,000 supports six teens in summer internships.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Work with a student to create a resume and cover letter, or address the after-school program on topics such as college and careers or financial literacy.
• Ongoing: Host a Liberty’s Promise youth at your place of business during the summer.
• SSL
• Internships
Loud Voices Together
Loud Voices Together (loudvoicestogether.org) empowers students with different abilities and their families through preparation and persistence, advocacy, parent coaching, training and literacy and numeracy programs for students of color.
Headquartered: Temple Hills
Serves: Montgomery County and surrounding counties throughout Maryland
What a donation buys:
• $250 funds literacy or numeracy tutoring.
• $500 funds advocacy services and parent coaching.
• $2,000 funds tutoring, advocacy services and coaching for a year.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Help with a special event or tutoring program.
• Ongoing: Provide teaching support in the literacy and numeracy programs.
• SSL
• Internships
Passion for Learning
Passion for Learning (P4L) (passionforlearning.org) addresses educational opportunity gaps faced by middle school students from low-income families. P4L provides enriching STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and college awareness/readiness programs for youths who are underestimated and under-encouraged. Coached by dedicated teachers and older student mentors, P4L’s youths develop their pathways to success in high school, college and careers.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $250 provides five electronics-robotics project kits.
• $1,000 enables four students to attend a one-week college readiness summer camp.
• $10,000 pays for a year of an after-school STEM or college readiness program at one school.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Speak to students as a STEM professional.
• Internships
So What Else
So What Else (sowhatelse.org) provides food security, access to basic necessities, and high-quality out-of-school-time programs in literacy, athletics and the visual and performing arts. The organization aims to inspire youths to give back by creating volunteer opportunities. Its Project Change program engages youths in producing original musical theater through a free summer camp while developing their skills to support social-emotional health.
Headquartered: Rockville
Serves: Montgomery County and D.C./Baltimore metro areas
What a donation buys:
• $100 pays for meals for a family of six for an entire week.
• $500 funds a theater arts program for 50 students at a Title 1 school.
• $2,500 provides five children summer camp and after-school programs for a year.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Support the after-school program.
• Ongoing: Help within the food pantry.
• SSL
• Internships
YMCA Youth & Family Services
YMCA Youth & Family Services (yfs.ymcadc.org), a branch of the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, provides therapy for youths and families and family support and social-emotional development to help youths and their families become safe, secure and connected to community supports. YFS’ mentoring, counseling and case management programs provide critical preventative and early intervention strategies that stabilize families during uncertain times.
Headquartered: Silver Spring
Serves: Montgomery County
What a donation buys:
• $150 buys healthy snacks for 40 youths at community centers.
• $1,000 provides multiple mental health therapy sessions for a youth facing adversity.
• $2,500 supports a yearlong mentor/mentee pair.
Volunteer opportunities:
• One day: Lead activities or small games at the annual Healthy Kids Day event in April.
• Ongoing: Mentor a youth.
• SSL
• Internships
