| Eyes of Hope Programs 2024-2025 - 2024 |
Amount Funded: $8,000.00 |
| Hope Explorers is a kids club located in the Bayview Neighborhood of Stoughton, housed in the community storm shelter. This neighborhood has a significant BIPOC population, and the club was created in response to challenges with youth behavior and parents working late. Rather than simply offering a space for kids, Hope Explorers focuses on helping them flourish. Access to the community’s outdoor learning center and a STEM cart donation from the Rotary Club introduced science and engineering activities to the program. We’ve added a Stop Gap film center and other creative activities, allowing children to explore various skills. Students who once struggled with communication now work together to write, direct, and perform plays. Daily activities like cooking, outdoor play, and mentor-led discussions are designed to foster growth and connection.
Hope Grows is a K-12 program that focuses primarily on elementary and middle school students. High school students, many of whom are former participants, act as mentors. Elementary students tend to a community garden, while middle and high school students learn about healthy cooking. With adult support, they participate in garden-to-table sessions, learning to prepare meals with the produce they grow.
Hope Tutors is a free tutoring program for K-12 students. Volunteer tutors meet with students either online, in public spaces, or at home with a caregiver present. The goal is to provide consistent academic support to students who are struggling in any subject. We believe education is a right, and this program helps make that belief a reality.
Hope Resilience, previously Girl2Girl, serves middle and high school students, many identifying as BIPOC. The program offers a safe space for students to share experiences and learn essential life skills, along with mindfulness practices to boost self-awareness and self-esteem. The aim is to build trust and relationships between students and local adult mentors. Through activities like yoga, discussion on emotional management, and practicing mindfulness, students develop emotional resilience, reduce anxiety, and build stronger connections within their community.
Each of these programs is designed to support academic, emotional, and personal growth, creating opportunities for students to succeed both in school and in life. Our holistic approach ensures that children and teens in the Stoughton community feel valued, supported, and empowered. |
| Eyes of Hope seeks funding for these impactful programs:
Hope Explorers is a club for K-5 students, initially targeting 63 participants in the first semester, with expected growth in the second. The program aims to strengthen relationships between students, parents, and housing management while encouraging extracurricular involvement and trust in the Bayview community. Activities focus on STEM concepts, with the program running from October 2, 2023, to May 30, 2024, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (3-6 pm). Three paid staff and vetted community volunteers ensure smooth operations.
Hope Tutors provides free tutoring for K-12 students, addressing learning deficits caused by COVID-19. Last year, 68 students were served, with goals to double that number this year. The program aims to improve test scores, reduce truancy, and enhance relationships among students, parents, and teachers. Running from October 2, 2023, to May 30, 2024, the tutoring service is offered online through a matching system. A coordinator oversees the matches and provides community training three times a year, supporting the belief that tutoring is a right for all students.
Hope Grows promotes the transformative power of gardening for individuals and society. In partnership with the City of Stoughton Parks and Recreation Department, the program offers free garden-based education for children ages 5-11, and volunteer opportunities for adolescents ages 12-16. Gardening encourages healthy eating, responsibility, leadership, and teamwork, benefiting both mind and body. In collaboration with Mosaicos and the Parks and Recreation Department, Hope Grows also provides the local Youth Center with produce and cooking classes for middle school students, mentored by high schoolers. The summer program runs for 36 hours, impacting around 45 participants.
Hope Resilience supports high school students, particularly those from communities of color at Stoughton High School. The program reaches approximately 59 students, though numbers can fluctuate with broader community engagement. Its goal is to build strong mentor relationships and offer a safe, supportive space for all gendered teens. Expanding on the Girl2Girl initiative, Hope Resilience runs from October through May on Saturdays. |
| Juneteenth - 2024 |
Amount Funded: $2,000.00 |
| All of the funds requested in this grant cover the activities and offerings held at Juneteenth to the public free of charge. The timeline of implementation is three months prior to the event with weekly planning meetings to coordinate the activities and food involved. The day of the celebration is an open air event with games, music, food trucks and activities from 11-4pm. This has an amazing impact of support bringing together the community to celebrate Black Culture. The positive impact is relationship building, understanding and inclusion. The outcome of Juneteenths celebration is Stoughtons Black community feels celebrated. It is powerful to witness connection and national observation of healing to rejoice the end of slavery. Stoughtons participation highlights a community that welcomes, includes, and learns diversity and inclusion practices by fostering fun, sharing a meal, and celebrating local Black businesses. Playing, dancing, singing, art, and a business fair the activities at Juneteenth. |
| Juneteenth has been celebrated in Stoughton for the past five years. The non-profit organizations involved include Eyes of Hope, Stoughton, Inc., Mosaicos, the City of Stoughton, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the Stoughton Public Library.
In 2024, we hosted over 450 attendees for Juneteenth. 2025’scelebration will be a collaborative effort once again, with volunteers and partners coming together to honor the rich history of liberation in communities of color. Each of the 60+ volunteers dedicates approximately 30 hours to planning and executing this five-hour event, underscoring the dedication of the Stoughton community to foster inclusion and belonging.
Our goal is to bring the community together to celebrate diversity, inclusion, and shared history. Through activities that encourage play, shared meals, and relationship building, Juneteenth creates a welcoming space for all. Events like this are essential for promoting unity and creating stronger connections among Stoughton’s leadership, community members, and citizens.
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