COMMON GOOD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

Common Good wants to see thriving students, strong families and flourishing neighborhoods live into their God-given potential. Goals include:
Sense of security: Many Common Good families are in tenuous situations due to financial stress, immigration status, and/or trauma. Common Good provides a safe place where each student and his/her entire family feel welcomed.
Post-secondary opportunities: Common Good wants all students to know available options. Barriers are real, but so is the support system and ability to reach their goals. Common Good has 15 graduates currently pursuing post-secondary options; six have completed BAs, one has completed an AA and three are pursuing master’s degrees.
Increased academic performance: Common Good provides tutoring and accountability by checking students’ grades, behavior, and school attendance monthly.
Access to extracurricular opportunities: Common Good provides access to extracurriculars for students facing economic and/or transportation barriers. Elementary students participate in weekly club times, and older youth partner with the ACE (Architecture, Construction, Engineering) Mentor Program to enhance their awareness of careers in these industries.
Common Good defines success for students as being engaged in the program, attending regularly, desiring success for themselves, and making academic and social gains. More broadly, Common Good wants students and families to remain engaged in programming for years to come. A specific goal is for participants to willingly give back to the program. This long-term goal is being achieved. Common Good has hired three program graduates as staff; graduates and six current students serve as summer program employees every year; and a parent of Common Good graduates serves on the board.

Daily programming: Monday-Thursday, 2:40-6pm, 34 weeks/year. 74 students receive mentoring, educational enhancement, leadership development, recreational activities, and a daily meal. Program directors provide accountability by monitoring grades and attendance of all students.
Elementary Program Clubs: Three times/week for 34 weeks/year. Many students attend schools with limited extracurricular opportunities and most families cannot afford these privately. Common Good’s club times rotate access to cooking, science, gardening, and art.
Mission Transition (College Readiness): Two hours/week for 34 weeks/year. High school juniors/seniors meet with staff/mentors to pursue post-high school opportunities. Many students in under-resourced neighborhoods, and particularly immigrant students, are not aware of opportunities and resources available to them, and most of them will be first-generation college graduates. Common Good provides support to families navigating the post-graduation process and ongoing mentorship for high school graduates in college, working, or still discerning next steps. In total, three graduates have joined Common Good’s staff, one is currently employed at Common Good.
Parent Leadership Development: Two hours/month for eight months/year. Common Good provides parenting support, leadership development, and help with school communication. These meetings engage parents who might not be involved in school because of linguistic/cultural barriers.
Matchstick Goods: Common Good’s social enterprise and economic development arm creates opportunities for Common Good students and graduates, including first/second generation immigrants, to express their unique and creative voices in their current cultural context. Students work 4-8 hours/week learning skills related to running a business and design/creation of ceramic goods.
Youth Employment: Common Good employs three students at Matchstick Goods during the school year and six students during the Summer Program.
Common Good programs are neighborhood-based and most clients receiving services live around or very near the program’s physical location. Families pay $10 per school year per child for the after-school program and $10 per child for the six-week summer program. This contribution gives parents a buy-in without being cost prohibitive to anyone. Common Good does not financially screen participants, but staff awareness of participating families suggest 95% of families in the program live at or below the poverty level.
Mentoring and after-school programs that connect youth to caring adults and activities are strategies recommended by the CDC for the prevention of youth violence and associated risk behaviors.