Article by Barbara Wheeler: “When the data-driven collective impact nonprofit, Baltimore’s Promise, set out to map the city’s youth programming, the numbers seemed to tell a clear story: For every four opportunities available to elementary school-aged children, there was only one for older youth, ages 19-24. So the fix seemed obvious: raise money, provide more programs for teenagers and young adults, done.
Before acting, Baltimore’s Promise took the finding to the people. Through its Youth Opportunities Landscape project, the organization held 19 group conversations that included 161 young people, parents, and caregivers. More programs would not have fixed the problem. Instead, Baltimore’s Promise learned that existing youth programs were often unavailable: Older youth described long bus rides of up to two hours to reach a program site. Many were parents themselves or primary caregivers for younger siblings with no way of arranging sibling care. Others were already working, and programs built around a school-day schedule could not accommodate them. The issue wasn’t just a supply or access problem; it was whether opportunities were available, realistically accessible, and aligned with what young people wanted and needed…(More)”.
