Enrichment Activities: To take a (much-needed) break from school work and related stress, Lauren’s House staff and volunteers also provide program participants with opportunities to participate in enrichment activities. These include attending cultural and community events, participating in a cooking class, and more! Enrichment activities occur at least once a week as part of participation in the overall tutoring and mentoring program.

Community Service: We view service-learning —that is, the opportunity to give back through meaningful community service—as an essential part of our program. Community service has been associated with enhanced self-esteem, improved academic performance, and increased community involvement. It has also been shown to help at-risk young people focus on positive activities. At Lauren’s House, community service allows our program participants to experience the joy of sharing and the sense of pride that comes from making a difference. In addition, it enhances their awareness of community needs and lets them see the value of reaching out to help.

Our community services activities have included:

• Visiting seniors at a local assisted living facility to sing, talk, read, or work on art projects. Preparing and distributing bag lunches and personal-care packages to the homeless
• Partnering with the Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree program to show God’s love to the incarcerated and their families through prayers, bible studies, and visits. We also provide back-to-school clothes and Christmas gifts to the children of prisoners.
• Partnering with the Family Giving Tree and My New Red Shoes to provide Christmas gifts and back-to-school gift cards and shoes to children whose parents are incarcerated.

Support Services for Families: Academic success depends on student overall mental and emotional well-being. Lauren’s House believes in a holistic approach to providing services, and is therefore committed to ensuring students and their families have access to the knowledge and resources they need to ultimately be successful in school.

Examples of support services we have provided include:

• Helping our students and their families in becoming enrolled in and accessing health care
• Filing for unemployment benefits
• Creating linkages through referrals to affordable housing, mental health care facilities and other partner, community organization
• Facilitate learning workshops to the families we serve