| Eyes of Hope Programs Fall 2023-Fall 2024 - 2023 |
Amount Funded: $5,000.00 |
| The most vulnerable of Stoughtons community were impacted the greatest from COVID 19. Eyes of Hope seeks to advance the social, emotional and physical wellness in communities of color. Using the Covid relief funding, we will continue Girl2Girl’s weekly mentorship program for high school youth from fall 2023 to summer 2024. The positive end impact will be providing necessary tools moving forward in their education/career goals. Examples of tools are anxiety busting techniques, nutrition ideas and wellness. We will begin a weekly tutoring program that connects vetted and trained community volunteers with students seeking educational support once a week through the school year. The positive end impact will be supporting Stoughtons educational staff with tutoring and support for students struggling in their academics. We will continue with our second year providing meaningful play and programs after school for Bayview’s K-5th community three afternoons a week Oct-June. The positive end impact is problem solving in the living community and providing learning activities for students living at Bayview. Finally, we seek to provide a stipend for a former Girl2Girl graduate to take over the executive director’s position and oversee and grow Eyes of Hope programs. The positive end impact is creating a legacy of representation in Stoughtons community of valuing the talent and leadership of all its people. |
| There are three separate programs this grant will help fund, under the Umbrella organization of Eyes of Hope. The Eyes of Hope organization seeks to provide after-school programming that promotes students’ social, emotional, and physical wellness. Covid-19 put a stop to all of the in-person programming, due to the closing of schools and the period of distancing ordered by state and federal governments during the height of covid-19.
The three programs we are requesting grant funding for target populations of color and encourages the involvement of students’ caregivers to provide Bayview Afterschool Program, Hope Community Drop-In Tutoring, and a newly developed Girl2Girl program provide direct mentoring to students.
Bayview Afterschool Program services students in grades K-5th. We believe this program will help 63 individuals the first semester, with it doubling the second. The goals of this program are to improve the relationship between students, their parents, and housing management, youth accessing more extra-curricular activities, and developing a trust in community members and themselves.
Volunteer hours consist as follows:
October 2, 2023-May 30, 2024
30 weeks Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 3-6pm
Hope Tutors Community Drop-in Program services students in grades K-12. Historically this program has helped 68 individuals in the past, though we hope to double our numbers this year. The goals of this program, within the scope of social, emotional, and physical wellness, are to provide students with tutoring to overcome Covid-19 learning deficits, higher overall standardized test scores, less truancy, improved relationships between parents, teachers, and students.
Volunteer hours for this program consist of:
Oct. 2, 2023-May 30, 2024
Tuesdays 6-8pm
A Newly Developed Girl2Girl services students who identify as female, come from a population of color, and attend Stoughton High School. This program helps approximately 59 individuals (though the actual number is difficult to accurately assess as this group is in constant contact with the community of Stoughton.) The goal of this program is to develop relationships between students and adult mentors from within the Stoughton community. Students learn to trust themselves and others through competencies that range from applying to colleges to attending conferences. Youth begin to feel valued in their community by volunteering at events and meeting community members in weekly programs. It’s w |
| Juneteenth Event - 2023 |
Amount Funded: $2,000.00 |
| The ARPA Grant funds would be spent on securing activities, supplies, down payments for performers, caterers, and artists beginning March 2024 through June 2024. It is again our goal to keep the event free for all community members to attend.
Juneteenth is an outdoor event that is fun for the whole family. This means we need shelter, water and shade from heat for physical safety. We offer interactive family mingling fun like face painting, live music, dancing with artists celebrating African dress/dancing, a bouncy house, and a raffle. Each participant received a raffle ticket for the event and could participate in a 50 item raffle. Having all activities be free and interactive allowed for community building, shared memories and friendship building. Trust in Stoughton’s community is built on positive experiences and Juneteenth is a fantastic day/memory made. The outcome is a safer community because of greater friendship, connections and relationships made, and a positive town event. |
| Juneteenth is a national holiday that is recognized as our second Independence Day as it commemorates the end of slavery in this country. The day is recognized on the anniversary of the emancipation of enslaved people on June 19, 1865. The Juneteenth Planning Committee was comprised of a diverse group of Stoughton neighbors with a vision to take the previous Juneteenth event and improve upon it. The First Juneteenth event in Stoughton was organized by the Itty Bitty Bookstore in 2018. There was no event scheduled during COVID-19 then MOSAICOS and EYES OF HOPE organizations organized a Stoughton Juneteenth Event in 2021 and 2022. In latter 2022, those organizations provided direction and leadership assistance to the new Juneteenth planning committee that had formed. In early 2023 the planning committee shared a vision for the Juneteenth event to be an outdoor event with several stations and activities similar to the Taste of Stoughton. The event was held on June 18, 2023, and it was decided early on that the event should serve the entire Stoughton Community, especially those with low income. The event featured free admission, a free food ticket for each attendee, and free activities and stations. The event consisted of Black business owners, artists, and performers. All of whom were fairly compensated for their services. Approximately 250 attended the event, and the total amount of funds donated toward the event from the City of Stoughton, area organizations, Stoughton businesses, and citizens was $5430.
The Juneteenth Committee has begun to organize, name its first positions, and plan the next Juneteenth event. Our goals for this event consist of commemorating this important historical event and educate our community about Juneteenth, celebrate the rich culture of Africa and African Americans, bring our community together, especially to bring together diverse populations, and showcase the talent of local Black artists, performers, and chefs and uplift local Black-owned businesses. We are estimating a crowd of 350-400 participants this year, with nearly 35 volunteers, and an estimated 488 volunteer hours.
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