Chicago non-profit

Mission: 88 Wayz Youth Foundation is committed to enhancing the educational, spiritual, physical, mental, political, social, and community growth of today's youth; while assisting these youth in realizing their dreams and reaching their full potential by mentoring, motivating, and developing the confidence needed to achieve and become productive adults. Vision: Our vision is to be the most sought after mentoring and afterschool program by allowing our target population to think for themselves and reach success through positive confirmations. History: In April 2008, 88 Wayz was founded as a private, not- for-profit 501(c) 3 organization by Desmond Clark. Mr. Clark is a native of Lakeland, Florida and a graduate from Kathleen High School. In 1995 Mr. Clark attended Wake Forest University and was drafted by the NFL in 1999 by the Denver Broncos. Mr. Clark began providing "football" camps in 2002 to low income children with hopes of giving back to his community but also to show young people that they can do anything they put their minds to. Mr. Clark's collaborative partnerships have lead the City of Lakeland, Teen Pregnancy Prevention Alliance, local business and the Polk County School board to many events throughout the year that has supported over one thousand youth. In the last three years Mr. Clark has provided football cleats to six hundred youth and he continues to find ways to support the Lakeland community. 88 Wayz Youth Foundation feels its services are in direct response to many community needs assessment that revealed a lack of social services for youth. The survey found that young boys are girls are challenged with academic, social, emotional and spiritual development. Our strategy is to expect all students of all races to graduate from public or private (including home schools) high schools either ready to go to work, attend a technical/community college or a four year university. Ensure that test scores are in the top 25% of United States standardized testing at all grade levels. Create remedial programs that aggressively reach out to students at risk of dropping out or who have dropped out, to insure they receive their diploma.