The world was not ready for COVID-19 and
especially not our school systems. In the space of
uncertainties and social distancing, Center of Hope Family
Services decided to take their literacy and youth
development programs into each home of their students
enrolled in their ELEVATE Program.
Tracee Perryman, PhD, CEO of the Center of
Hope, said, "August will be here before you know it, and it
will be time for our children to return to school. Whether
they return to the traditional classroom or are learning
from home, we are prepared. Center of Hope and its ELEVATE
staff have been working with national experts to make sure
our children have access to every advantage so they can
learn under the most optimal conditions."
This local non-profit has created free
virtual classes for children enrolled in Martin Luther King
Academy for Boys, Old West End Academy, Robinson Elementary
and Ella P. Stewart Academy for Girls. Students will enjoy
Music Mondays with Dr. P and theater and drama classes on
Celebrate ME Tuesdays. The young participants will tap into
their inner peace and relax on Wellness Wednesdays, show
their dance moves and groove on Thursdays, and end the week
in the kitchen cooking and crafting with Willetta Perryman,
Tracee’s mother.
Dr. Perryman secured talented experts from
around the Midwest to teach weekly classes that will benefit
children in our community. One of the instructors is Dr. RAS
a/k/a Mikey Courtney, an acclaimed dance professional.
Courtney’s life mission is to share his gift of the
expressive arts by spreading universal understanding to
communities and cultures across the globe. He has
collaborated with artists and companies worldwide, including
Pilobolus, Raven-Symoné, and the Marley family, to name a
few.
The Center of Hope ELEVATE Program provides
literacy, youth development, and coding programs to help
students perform better on standardized tests, avoid
delinquency, and become marketable to enter the workforce
upon high school graduation. Before COVID-19, students in
grades k-4 would enjoy weekly enrichment activities and free
dinner and snacks from Monday until Thursday.
ELEVATE has achieved results in line with promoting
students’ development, school attendance, and positive
behavior. Three years ago, MLK’s suspension rate dropped
from 31.7 percent between 2017-18 to 5.9 percent the next
school year. Almost half of the regular participants
maintained or reduced their total number of unexcused
absence hours between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school year.
Additionally, 100 percent of MLK parents and 92 percent of
OWE parents reported that the ELEVATE program helped their
child at least somewhat with getting along with other
students. They agreed that the ELEVATE
program staff cared about
their child and wanted to see them succeed. One hundred
percent of school staff members reported that the ELEVATE
program helped students at least somewhat with social skills
and interacting with others.
The Ohio Department of Education awarded Center of Hope
two of the four grants allocated to Toledo in 2017. In 2019,
Center of Hope was the only Toledo agency to secure an Ohio
Department of Education 21st CCLC grant, which they acquired
for their ELEVATE at Robinson Elementary School site.
With those funds and other grants and in-kind donations
from companies and individuals in the Toledo community,
Tracee Perryman said they plan to continue “serving our
families and our communities with dignity and respect. We
know when families and communities are at the center of what
we do, and when we genuinely provide services that close
gaps in opportunity and access, then our families and our
communities will rise to the occasion and will thrive.”
