Our mission: to empower people to achieve personal and economic success. Our vision: to break the cycle of poverty, one person, one family, one community at a time.
Our strategy (focusing on one public housing community at a time):
- Assessing needs
- Coordinating collaboration
- Bringing in outside resources
- Providing mentoring
- Life skills training and other human services that facilitate economic self-sufficiency
In 2003, CEE chose to focus on one geographic location - Brookland Manor - a public housing development in Ward 5. The community said their biggest need was to get the teens off the streets.
When we began our work the demographics were:
- 2547 residents
- 99% African-American
- 315 families
- 290 are led by a single mother
- 70% of the household earn less than $10,000 annually
- 708 residents under 17 years of age
- 350 residents between the ages of 10 and 18
- 40% of the teens have been in the juvenile justice system
- 60% of the teens have been truant
CEE began the Teen Empowerment Initiative in July 2003 and has served over 50 teens with education, training, mentoring and structured activities.
Our major accomplishments were:
- Implemented program through a collaboration of 30 organizations
- Created the Teen Center at 2425 14th Street, NE
- Created the Learning Center 2414 14th Street, NE
- Created a computer lab of 15 stations
- Dropped truancy rate, of participating teens, from 60% to 15%!
- 3 teens received an award for perfect attendance