1. What is the history of YES!Atlanta?

A small group of individuals concerned about Atlanta's high school drop-out rate met during the summer of 1988 and created what was to become YES!Atlanta (for Youth Experiencing Success) . The Rising Star program was launched in spring of 1990; Coaching for Success followed in 1993. Since then, the Rising Star programs have positively impacted the lives of close to 1,000 teenagers.

 

2. How does YES!Atlanta differ from other mentoring organizations?

Unlike many other mentoring organizations, our specific intention is to provide program participants with tools for taking charge of their own lives – and then support them in doing so for up to a full year. Our mentors (called Committed Partners) have the responsibility of holding the youth to the commitments they make for self improvement when they entered the program. Coaching and support of all participants is based on these principles:

POSSIBILITY: Despite personal circumstances, you have choices about how to act, and these choices can open the way to a future different from what you always believed possible;

RESPONSIBILITY: It's today’s choices and actions that creates your future;

COMMITMENT: You can change your life by changing how you think and what you do;

SUPPORT: Real power comes from both giving to others and asking for help from others;

FORGIVENESS: Letting go of your anger, bitterness, and hurt from the past promotes healing, and develops compassion for others.

 

3. What is the intended impact of our Rising Star program?

The Rising Star program, because of its intensity and duration, and because the youth have enrolled and remain active in the program voluntarily, affects a basic change in the personality and attitudes of the participants. The youth become more intentional about their lives, they get along better with parents and other authority figures, do better in school and on the job, and see possibilities for themselves beyond what they may have imagined based upon their environment and circumstances. Rising Star graduates have a greatly-increased probability of living fulfilled, productive lives while contributing to the well-being of others within their communities.

 

4. How are participants enrolled in Rising Star?

Participants for Rising Star are recruited, and their participation is purely voluntary, an important factor in Rising Star's success. During the recruitment process, teenagers and parents/guardians are carefully and thoroughly briefed on the possibilities the program holds for them and the nature of the commitments they must make. Parents' consent is required.

 

5. What is the goal of Coaching for Success?

Although the basic principals of both Rising Star and Coaching for Success are similar, the objectives of Coaching for Success, a simpler and less expensive program, are to have the participants remain in high school and successfully earn their degree or a G.E.D certificate while eliminating or reducing self-defeating behaviors such as drug use. Coaching for Success participants are recommended by their school counselors as being at risk of dropping out, or are remanded to us by the Juvenile Court as an alternative to adjudication for minor offenses. Their participation is mandatory, not voluntary. This difference lessens our ability to stimulate a basic change in their attitudes.

 

6. Do the Rising Star and Coaching for Success programs cost participants anything?

No. Each youth is provided a full scholarship.

 

7. How are Tutors and Mentors selected?

They are recruited from all parts of the community and represent all ages and backgrounds. A mandated background check is done. The only prerequisites for being a Tutor or Mentor are the desire to make a difference in the life of another, and the willingness to make and keep a commitment to participate fully in the entire program. Mentors promise to contact their youth at least once a week (in Coaching for Success, during the Tuesday afternoon sessions), and attend the monthly Saturday Support Session with their youth.

 

8. Does Rising Star really make a difference?

To date, participants’ parents, teachers, relatives, and friends have provided considerable anecdotal evidence of the changes in the young people – generally, they are easier to get along with, are more able to make and keep commitments, do better in school and have much improved relationships with those around them.

The former Chief Justice of the Fulton County Juvenile Court, Glenda Hatchett (now a television celebrity), reported that, in her experience, youth who participate in Rising Star are 70 percent less likely to reappear in her courtroom.

In 1992, then-President George H. W. Bush honored YES!Atlanta by naming it America's 1,003rd national "Point of Light" for its achievements in working with youth.

YES!Atlanta is currently working to provide an objective, professional assessment of the impact of the Rising Star programs on the young participants as well as the volunteers.

 

9. What is the success rate of Coaching for Success?

YES!Atlanta is but one of several youth-service organizations around the Juvenile Court that provide support of various sorts (such as life skills training) to participants. When youth have fulfilled their court-mandated requirements they are released from the program. Teens who come to us at the suggestion of their school counselors remain in tutoring longer. We are working to collect statistics as to the graduation rate of this group of participants.

 

10. What is YES! Atlanta ’s annual operating budget?

YES!Atlanta’s normal operating budget is around $250,000. Our goal is to work with one hundred youth per year.

The Board of Directors and staff continually review all expenditures for increased efficiency and effectiveness, and to reflect the realities of fund raising.

 

11. How does YES!Atlanta raise operating funds?

YES!Atlanta is a non-profit corporation under IRS 501(c)(3). All contributions are tax deductible as provided by law. We receive financial support through individual, corporate and foundation contributions, as well as special fundraising events. In-kind donations of goods and services of all kinds are also sought and very much appreciated.

The organization’s principal source of funds is the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) who donates a portion of their annual fund-raising event. We recently completed our first Night of Lights gala - other signature events are being planned.

 

12. How does YES!Atlanta allocate the funds raised?

YES!Atlanta employs a small staff with minimal administrative and office overhead. The majority of YES!Atlanta’s program budget goes to funding the Rising Star Program, particularly the Youth Intensives.

Skilled professionals are employed to design and/or lead the Intensives. These professionals also support the ongoing Rising Star and Coaching for Success programs and lead the once-monthly Saturday meetings.

The balance of the money is for program production costs as well as local expenses such as the small staff, office rent and supplies, telephone, printing, utilities, supplies, postage, etc. Some of these costs may be offset by in-kind contributions from business and individuals.

YES!Atlanta is a volunteer-intensive organization that depends heavily upon the dedicated services of citizens from throughout our community who participate in various ways. If you interested in joining us, you are invited to contact Dottie Wimberly by phone or email. She will be glad to explain the many ways that you can make a difference.

Considerable cost and effort is required to bring the possibility of dramatic change into young lives at the turning point.

We believe that, compared to the social costs of doing nothing, it is a bargain.