Bound Together/Kid's Café
Founded in 1993, Bound Together/Kid's Café provides neighborhood children with a safe place for tutoring in reading and math, enrichment in art, dance and discovery, and a healthy meal. As a result of the tutoring program, students' MEAP test scores increased by 32% in reading and 53% in math from 1997 to 1998. The program recently moved to the Old Rectory next door to All Saints Church.
The purpose of the emerging Bound Together program is to address the needs of the children in the neighborhood in a variety of ways, from elementary school age to teens to college to family. The educational elements include:
- Safe environment for after-school tutoring and dinner program from experienced staff and volunteers
- Assisting the local elementary teachers with "at-risk" and sometimes transmigratory children with learning difficulties to give them a second advantage in school
- Offering an opportunity for parents to come and eat with their children at Kid's Café and to ensure that children of need receive a nutritional and hot meal several times each week
- Offering neighborhood and families of the tutored children an opportunity for referrals and resources within the community
- Acting as advocate for families in need, including counseling at no/low cost, court advocate, and public school advocate
- Supervised intern site for University students in educational courses or counseling experiences
- Site for conflict resolution for neighborhood families Program Staff
The Rev. Barbara Ransom Fry, Program Director
Dr. Roxanne Allen, Counselor
Maria Rosales, Program Cook
Volunteer tutors, AmeriCorps university students and dinner supervisors
Bound Together/Kid's Café
167 West Pike Street
Pontiac, Michigan 48341
Phone: (248) 334-3827
Fax: (248) 334-8773
Copyright © 2003 St. Mary's in the Hills All rights reserved.