WWT DESERT MOUNTAIN WALKERS

FITNESS GOAL

TARGET: 1,925 miles

FUNDRAISING GOAL

TARGET: $ 8,820

Hope Ignites

About:

Hope Ignites is the catalyst that helps young people achieve their full potential. We connect with them when they are 10-13 years old – youth who are bright, motivated, and inspired to help their families break the cycle of poverty and create a new beginning. In partnership with their families and guardians, our job is to guide and nurture them. We help them find their purpose and passion by exposing them to life, educational, and professional opportunities they might not otherwise be able to access.

We make a long-term commitment to our young people from middle school, through high school, college, and into their early careers. There is one program with two unique but complementary pathways to meet young people’s needs. Our Academy pathway provides year-round, out-of-school programming to help scholars thrive and progress through high school while preparing them for life and education success in the critical years after graduation. Our Residential pathway offers the addition of a primary home for scholars who receive round-the-clock care in a structured and loving environment. We provide scholarships, wrap-around support, and connections to internships and jobs for our collegians and alumni to support their continued momentum.

The Hope Ignites commitment to young people is deep, enduring, individualized, and based on forming close relationships. We provide the greatest long-term impact for a donor’s philanthropic dollar because our program truly changes the trajectory for talented youths and young adults. There are many organizations that do pieces of what we do, but none with the depth, breadth, and longevity. We create opportunities for economic and social mobility they would likely never otherwise have, and every Hope Ignites scholar has a “multiplier effect” of positive impact on their families, communities, and places of employment.

The Hope Ignites Network includes more than 250 team members and 300 volunteers who work together with partner schools, universities, and companies to serve 1,250 young people in 14 cities across the United States, Guatemala, and Mexico.

Because too many young people still face systemic barriers and social conditions that challenge their ability to achieve lives of hope, we are embarking upon a strategic plan to triple our reach over the next decade.

Mission:

Hope Ignites nurtures and guides motivated young people in need to become well-educated, career-ready men and women for others.

Our Network:

Baltimore • Chicago • Cincinnati • Colorado • Detroit • Guatemala • Mexico • New Orleans • New York • Northeastern Ohio • Phoenix • Pittsburgh • Southern California • St. Louis • Network Headquarters