American society fails too many of its young people, especially its teens. Born with potential and filled with great dreams, many of our youth do not achieve all they are capable of because they have neither the support system to feed those dreams nor the opportunity to pursue them. As a result, many of our young people succumb to the expectations of others; they believe that a college education is beyond their reach or, worse, they drop out of school for the short-term reward of work, or fall victim to the lure of gang affiliation.
C5LA addresses this critical issue. Our communities require engaged citizens and committed leaders and our businesses need qualified employees prepared with appropriate skills and character, yet 30% of the nation’s youth, (and this number is much higher in Los Angeles), do not even graduate from high school, often making it impossible for them to fill these needs and difficult to make a positive contribution to society.
The Issues
Our public education system receives much of the blame for the many young people who fail to graduate and become productive citizens. Our government is trying to address this issue with the No Child Left Behind legislation, and countless other organizations and foundations are investing millions of dollars in various initiatives to improve our schools. As successful as these initiatives might be — and the jury is still out — most are based on the assumption that the key to improving youth outcomes is to fix our schools.
Addressing, however, the issue of under-achieving youth requires us to get out of the box, both figuratively and literally. The reason many young people fail is not because of what happens (or doesn’t) in school. We need to consider what is happening outside of the box, outside of the school and classroom, to begin to understand the issue and the opportunity. Young people are impacted by everything in their lives and affected by everything that is missing from their lives. Too many of our youth grow up in environments with limited support and few opportunities, unable to develop a positive vision for their future.
C5 Youth Foundation provides young people with these supports and opportunities, helping them envision a future worth investing in. And even more importantly, we provide them with the skills and confidence to pursue their vision.