All Dorchester Sports League
March 2015
Request to:Framingham State, Non-profit Giving Course
Organization Name:All Dorchester Sports League, Inc.
Organizational Information
1. Organization’s History:
The All Dorchester Sports League (ADSL) was launched in the 1980s in response to violence and growing racial tension in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. The vision of ADSL was to provide neighborhood youth of all races and ethnicities with a space for reconciliation and the opportunity to be on the same team, instead of seeing one another as adversaries.
Originally, ADSL was conceived as a youth sports organization. ADSL’s mission expanded in 1997 when ADSL added an education resource center (ERC) and began providing one-on-one tutoring and academic support. In 2008, ADSL expanded once again to offer fitness and nutrition education.
Currently, the overall numbers of youth served by all of ADSL’s programs is about 900 per year. Our long term goal is to serve 1,500 youth per year through programs which are relevant in today’s social context—including health and nutrition, physical fitness, and educational achievement. Many of the youth we serve start attending ADSL programs as early as elementary school, and continue with us until high school graduation. We currently have board members who as youth were program participants, as well as parent board members, coaches and volunteers who are dedicated to the success of ADSL because of the impact we had on their children.
Under this proposal, we aim to increase the effectiveness of and local participation in our after school tutoring program.
2. Organizational Goals and Objectives:
The mission of All Dorchester Sports League is to offer sports, fitness/nutrition and education programs for youth, primarily in Dorchester, that emphasize the life skills, academic focus, healthy and active lifestyles required to succeed in community life and become successful adults.
All Dorchester Sports League’s (ADSL) work successfully addresses several major community needs— the first is providing low income students who are struggling in school with free, one-on-one tutoring, homework help, and test prep. We have numerous success stories of students who went from Ds to Bs in core subjects, from failing to proficient in the MCAS, and were subsequently accepted into college. Our belief is that by staying in school until high school graduation, then moving on to college or a high skilled job will propel Dorchester residents who currently live in poverty to economic stability and progress.
Another community need that ADSL aims to address is combating childhood obesity, specifically among low income African-American and Latino youth. ADSL’s focus on sports, fitness, nutrition and regular physical activity encourages healthy habits and choices for our participants and their families.
Finally, we provide at-risk youth an alternative to gangs and other risky behaviors where they can excel in sports, build self esteem, and engage with positive role models and mentors. ADSL sports programs build self-esteem and leadership skills and help at-risk youth overcome obstacles they may face at school and on the streets.
Proposal Information
3. Description of Need:
Over the past five years, high schools dropout rates for Blacks/African Americans and Latinos in Metro Boston have remained at least three times as high as dropout rates for Whites and Asians. Further, according to the Boston Indicators Project, a demographic bulge in teenagers—an age cohort more likely than others to be engage in risky behaviors—coincides with a loss in federal funds for community policing, a constrained public budget for youth activities, fewer entry-level jobs for young people and school drop outs, and an increase in the availability of drugs and guns. Dorchester is one of Boston’s poorest neighborhoods, with 35% of the population living below the poverty line. In addition, several Dorchester neighborhoods are considered to be gang “hotspots” by the Boston Police. Fields Corner is one of these "Hotspots".
Further, according to a 2011 study by Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce, people with a bachelor's degree make 84% more over a lifetime than high school graduates. In addition, associate's degree graduates can expect to earn about 22% more than high school graduates, while high school graduates earn 33% more than those who have not completed high school.
It is clear that education is key to economic opportunity and offers a pathway out of poverty for resident of Dorchester. However, a study by the Boston Youth Transitions Task Force states that “in any given year, 1,400 to 1,600 students are dropping out of school in Boston. This compares with the approximately 3,000 students who graduate each year.” The study also notes that this population of dropouts is 60% male; they are overwhelmingly youth of color; they come from Boston’s poorest neighborhoods—such as the Fields Corner section of Dorchester, where ADSL operates; many have special needs; and many do not speak English as their primary language.
4. Description of Program/Project:
ADSL’s goal is to provide a safe and healthy environment where youth participants gain self esteem and leadership skills through sports and positive messages about health and educational achievement through our fitness and education programs.
ADLS’s Education Resource Center (ERC) is an ongoing project that has been in existence since 1997. ADSL was originally exclusively a youth sports organization, however ADSL coaches and volunteers realized that although participation in sports is an essential component of both physical and mental health, our youth participants needed additional support and life skills to excel in school. The families of ADSL youth have little tradition of higher education and local disadvantaged students often fall through the cracks of the education system.
The ERC provides one-on-one tutoring in academic subjects, helps middle school students with homework, MCAS test prep, as well as interfacing with classroom teachers to identify the needs and challenges of each of our students. Our tutors are recruited from local colleges and universities including Suffolk, Tufts, UMASS and Boston College. They are advanced math and science majors with the background required to assist students in their most challenging courses.
The ERC begins in the fall of each school year and runs through the academic year. Students come afterschool two evenings per week to receive tutoring in academic subjects and two evenings per week to receive life skills training such as violence prevention and nutrition counseling. The ERC has a computer lab and a library. The library contains hundreds of books that have been donated to the program, including all of the required summer reading for the Boston Public Schools.
Starting in the summer before the school year begins, ADSL leadership identifies and recruits tutors from local colleges, teachers, retired teachers and other qualified individuals.
How is this program unique?In Dorchester and throughout Boston, there are organizations that provide academic support and other organizations that focus on sports and fitness; and still others that provide programing related to mental and physical wellbeing and positive choices. However, ADSL aims to incorporate a “Mind, Body, Spirit” approach. Using sports as a platform to bring new participants in the door, we then offer academic support after school and wellness programs, including nutrition awareness building and other like skills such as workshops on conflict resolution, anti-bullying, and dating violence. ADSL offers an integrated package of programs for kids all throughout their childhood and adolescence.
5. Specific Activities:
Objective 1:Academic Support and Tutoring
Related Activities:
- ADSL will recruit 5 qualified volunteer tutors for the 2015 - 2016 academic year.
- ADSL will conduct outreach to local schools, ADSL sports team players, through local media, and in HUD housing developments in Dorchester to recruit middle and high school students at risk of failing core subjects, MCAS or dropping out of school.
- Using the GRIT Rubric(Guts, Resiliency, Integrity, Tenacity), ADSL tutors will conduct an initial assessment of each student to determine academic need.*
- During the grant, ADSL will provide free of charge, one-on-one tutoring to at least 25 students per semester. ADSL will also continue to provide drop in homework help for 30 children per week.
- Students will receive tutoring once or twice per week depending on his/her individual needs. Each tutoring block can be up to 2 hours, depending on students’ individual needs.
Objective 2:Life Skills Training
Related Activities:
- ADSL will provide nutrition workshops and counseling for all ERC and sports participants.
- In partnership with the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition and Health Policy, ADSL will once again offer the “Fit Kitchen” program, in which youth and their parents come to participate in a cooking class to learn ways to incorporate healthy food options into meal preparations. Classes include recipes, introduction to organic food, discussions on obesity, and diabetes prevention all while preparing healthy meals and snacks. "Fit Kitchen" meets once weekly for five weeks, with new sessions offered 3 times per year
- ADSL will continue to work with local restaurants who agree to provide their head chefs to run classes with our staff. We will also work with our partner nutritionist who comes to us from the neighboring Carney Hospital.
- ADSL will continue to reach out to our elected officials to participate as "celebrity chefs"each week of the cooking/nutrition class. This gives our participants the opportunity to get to know their legislators in an informal setting (many people in our community are intimidated by their elected officials and feel uncomfortable approaching them). So far we have hosted City Councilor- at- Large, Ayanna Pressley, City Councilor, Frank Baker, and looking forward to hosting a candidate for City Council, Andrea Campbell as well as State Representative Russell Holmes and ending with State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry.
- ADSL will provide fitness coaching to any young person over 13 who would like to improve fitness and health. We teach proper techniques for weight-lifting, cross-training, and general physical fitness.
- ADSL will provide a summer sports program for participants aged 7 to 14 that will include sports and outdoor activities.
- ADSL will also provide anti-violence education workshops in partnership with Domestic Violence Ended (DOVE).
6. Objectives and Goals for this Request:
ADSL’s goal is to achieve academic success for its participants. Our goal is that all of our ERC participants (90%) will improve grades in core subjects. We will track progress through report card grades and interaction with teachers. Those whose academic needs require more specialized support, such as mental health or special education, will be identified and referred to the appropriate services. Our life skills goal would be to create an awareness of how food affects our ability to perform both intellectually and physically. We also hope that the classes will instill an understanding in our participants that it is critical to make wise choices when it comes to food consumption.
7. Evaluation:
*For our drop-in homework help, elementary and middle schools students can drop in whenever they need additional support. Because it is more difficult to track academic improvement for these students since they do not come as consistently, ADSL has adopted the "GRIT" rubric to measure success. GRIT stands for GUTS, RESILIENCE, INTEGRITY AND TENACITY. We have studied the tenents of this concept and feel it represents the role that ADSL plays with this population. It also is something that we can track and speak to directly. When students in elementary and high schools were tested with this rubric, it was determined that the GRIT Scale was a reliable predictor of report card grades.
8. Organizational Structure/Executive Director Involvement:
ADSLstaff consists of one full-time Executive Director, three part time/seasonal assistants, including a Fitness Coordinator, an Education Program Coordinator, and Baseball Program Coordinator. We also have a part-time contract fundraiser.
Candice Gartley is the Executive Director and provides oversight, planning and vision to all ADSL programs and works to recruit new participants and retain current ones. Ms. Gartley has lived in the Codman Square area of Dorchester for more than 25 years. Her children attend the Boston Public Schools and she is actively involved in the local community. Prior to ADSL, she worked for 20 years at the Codman Square Health Center, most recently as the Director of Public Relations and Special Events.
In addition, ADSL recruits several college and post-graduate tutors to work 1-on-1 with our students. Some are volunteers, while others receive school credit or stipends. All part time and seasonal staff are supervised by the Executive Director.
ADSL also has a talented and diverse 15 member board of directors which provides supervision to the Executive Director and meets monthly to discuss various organizational items, including maintaining a consistent fundraising program.
9. Challenges
Our most significant challenge is securing funding for ADSL’s programs and operational costs. Operational funding is a constant challenge. To help reduce costs we rely on heavily on volunteers. But in order to assure the sustainability and growth of our programs, we are working to diversify our funding base. Our current fundraising programs includes a part time grant writer focused on identifying and soliciting fund from foundations, and our board and ExecutiveDirector, Candice Gartley, actively participating in networking and relationship building. With Ms. Gartley’s organizational management and fundraising experience, ability to access and leverage social capital, as well as having an understanding of local issues and needs, ADSL is well-positioned to increase its impact.
Another challenge, related to funding, is that ADSL has only one full time employee, our Executive Director. As the only employee, she is in charge of running ADSL’s menu of programs, as well as operations, fundraising and building collaborations with other organizations. ADSL is aspiring to expand its base of funders so that we are able to hire additional staff.
10. Budget Information
ADSL respectfully requests a grant in the amount of $10,000from the Framingham State, Non-profit Giving Course.
11. Use this section below to indicate what funding you have received from other foundations, and from which other foundations you plan to seek funding:
Funds listed below are committed and pending for all of ADSL’s activities and cover its operating budget as well as programs:
After School Capacity Building Grant – City of Boston/B.C.Y.F. – $38,540
The Yawkey Foundation - $20,000
The Lenny Zakim Fund - $10,000
The Smith Family Foundation - $25,000
Mass Convention Center Authority - $5,000
Boston R.O.C.K.S. Grant - $4,000
Campbell & Hall Charity Fund - $4,000
Clipper Ship Foundation - $7,500
Moyer-Sykes Family Fund - $15,000
Roy Foundation - $2,000
Pending:The Vela Foundation - $20,000
The Wahlberg Youth Foundation-$10,000
12. Conclusion:
Since 1983, ADSL has been a major community asset for youth in Dorchester. The youth we serve come from low-income, violent neighborhoods and single-parent households. ADSL offers a safe and supportive place away from home which prepares young people for success in education, employment, and community life by building skills and self-esteem, promoting non-violence, offering fun, safe activities and academic support. We would be honored to partner with the non-profit giving students at Framingham State to support our education program. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you need additional information about ADSL in support of this request.
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