Educational Support for At-Risk Youth

The Costs That Actually End an Education

A uniform that cannot be replaced. Exam fees due the same week as something else. Bus fare. A textbook the school assumes every family can buy.

Individually they are small. That is exactly why they are so effective at ending a child's schooling: nobody treats any single one of them as a crisis until the student has already stopped attending.

What JEPF Provides

• Books and school supplies collected and shipped to students and schools that need them.

• Backpacks, computers, and printers, so a student is not the only one in the room without the tools the work assumes.

• Scholarships and educational assistance for students whose place is at risk over cost.

• Support for the institutions as well as the students, because a school without supplies produces the same outcome as a student without them.

Educators are Involved in This Directly

JEPF's team includes educators and alumni of Howard University, the University of Maryland, and Georgetown University. Several also work as substitute teachers at area high schools including High Point, Roosevelt, and Northwestern.

These are team backgrounds, not partnerships with those institutions. What they contribute is judgment about what a classroom is actually short of, which is not always what a donor assumes.

Local Resources as Well as Jamaica

JEPF's programs serve at-risk youth in Jamaica, and the foundation also maintains community ties in Hyattsville and Prince George's County, including book drives, school supply support, and connections to adult education and vocational training for local families.