Our History… To build on the success of Lawrence Futures and the work of the Lawrence Youth Commission, the board and administration of the Lawrence Youth Commission (LYC) applied in 1991 for non‐profit status as a 501 (c)3 IRS designated nonprofit. This new entity qualified for funding to help launch several new promising pilot projects in community education and leadership development. Some of those projects included… a Career Center housed at the Lawrence Public Library, which offered after‐school programs—such as, Proyecto Alcance and Project Reach to support the goals of high school students to undertake paths to higher education. Career awareness information and life skills, along with intensive Math, English and English as a Second Language (ESL) were established to reduce the drop‐out rate and increase admissions to colleges. The Career Center then received AmeriCorps funding to launch CityCore, one of the first five AmeriCorps programs in Massachusetts that enabled young people to learn skills as they performed community service and earned higher education scholarships. an Adult Leadership Development Program (ALDP) helped create a new generation of community leaders, immersed in the heritage and culture of new immigrants. The goal of the ALDP was to provide information on management, leadership, legal and fiduciary responsibilities to support newcomer residents with the skills and confidence to serve as board members on local non‐profit organizations. the Parent Mobilization Project (PMP), considered one of the LYC’s most ambitious endeavors, hosted workshops led by a core of Latino parents that “asked the right questions.” The PMP recruited and trained hundreds of Latino parents for greater awareness of their rights and responsibilities as new Americans— particularly the right to expect quality education for the future of their children. At kitchen tables and living rooms in almost every neighborhood of Lawrence, trained parents strengthened family life and built community cohesiveness and purpose. Hundreds of parents developed new confidence to attend parent‐teacher conferences, sign up for ESL classes, apply for jobs and set limits and expectations for their children. This mobilization became the catalyst for a later application for the Lawrence Family Development Charter School. Our Evolution...building on the past to respond to the needs of today... These three core projects laid the foundation for the work that LFDEF, Inc. does today. In February of 1992, the LYC was granted tax‐exempt status as a 501(c)3 non‐profit organization and founded the Lawrence Family Development and Education Fund, Inc. (LFDEF). LFDEF, Inc. held its initial board meeting at the Lawrence Heritage State Park to elect the founding board members and acceptance of the organization’s first grant from Shawmut Bank. With a foundation to build on, LFDEF, Inc. set out to establish programs of the highest quality that met the needs of emerging populations in Lawrence. LFDEF, INC FY’2014‐2015 ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 1
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