Groundwork’s mission is to help young people living in high poverty urban neighborhoods discover and develop their strengths, skills, and talents through effective experiential learning and work programs.

What Groundwork does

• Intensive focus in a concentrated area. Groundwork identifies twelve to fifteen block areas with high rates of young people living in poverty – typically public housing developments and the blocks that surround them – and develops programs to serve a significant percentage of the families who reside in those areas. By reaching many children in a small, well-defined area, Groundwork believes it can impact the youth culture of that entire community.
• Groundwork for Youth: Free After-school and Summer Academies for elementary and middle school youth offers structured, inquiry-based activities that deepen children’s enthusiasm for education and broaden perspective for what is possible in their lives, with a special emphasis on developing literacy.
• Groundwork for Success: A youth employment, business education, college preparation, and leadership development program for high school students prepares students for success in college and beyond.
• Support Services Program: A social services program that provides mental health counseling, play therapy, peer support groups, and crisis intervention to youth and their families.
• Single Stop: A family support program provides free “one-stop shopping” for critical services such as educational advocacy, legal representation, and financial counseling that may be difficult to find.
• Community Organizing Program: A program that organizes community residents to advocate for systemic community change and bring new resources to the neighborhood – such as safe play places and charter schools.