FREE SUMMER ENRICHMENT PROGRAM FOR YOUR CHILDREN!

THE KEY TO SUCCESS IS MENTORING YOUNG MINDS!

This week, the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) is kicking off a six-week, tuition-free, literacy and enrichment program for youths in cities nationwide. This summer marks the eleventh anniversary of Houston’s Youth Program for Enrichment (H.Y.P.E.) CDF Freedom Schools nurturing of young minds in Houston.

The program runs from June 21 through July 30, 2010 and is housed three locations in Houston and two others in Galveston and Beaumont. Those locations are:

• Pisidia Missionary Baptist Church, 4610 Aledo St., Houston, Texas 77051.
• The New Beginnings Church, 10921 Foy Lane, Houston, Texas 77093.
• The Harris County Juvenile Probation Center also hosts a Freedom School at Burnett-Bayland Reception Center, 6500 Chimney Rock, Houston, Texas 77081.
• Beaumont and Galveston also operate CDF Freedom Schools sites that serve youths in the gulf coast region of Texas. CDF–Texas launched a statewide expansion of the program in 2009.

Established as part of the voter registration and community mobilization effort during the Freedom Summer of 1964, the CDF Freedom Schools program aims to provide summer options for children where there are none and to strengthen parent and community involvement in the year-round achievement of youth.

The program serves children ages 5 to 18 for six weeks and integrates reading, conflict resolution and social action in an activity-based curriculum that promotes social, cultural and historical awareness. Parents and community leaders benefit from workshops designed to promote social action and greater awareness of children’s needs.

The program is intended to help students to bridge the educational gap between the end of one school year and the beginning of the next.

To learn how to get involved or support the CDF Freedom Schools program in Texas, contact Brandi Brown at (713) 664-4080 or bbrown@childrensdefense.org.