Support Education

Building Minds - Building a Future

Over 90% of our kids come from families living below the poverty line.  Sadly, this means that they have very little choice or opportunity when it comes to their education.  Most of them have been stranded in overcrowded and dangerous schools, unable to perform required work because they lacked the supplies, guidance, discipline or appreciation for success. 

As a result, most of the kids who turn to Mercy Home for care and guidance are at least two years behind their age group academically.  Your support is critical in making sure our kids have access to those learning tools and opportunities that will help them to catch up in their studies, and even flourish down the road. 

Our young people rely on Mercy Home and its benefactors for the following:

• Access to a school that will best meet the child’s educational needs—either a public or private Catholic school—with a focus on quality, smaller class sizes and safety. With your help, we are able to cover the considerable tuition costs.
  
• One out of every four children accepted into Mercy Home presents "special education needs.''  This means the child requires a different approach to learning—at school and in the Home—supervised by teachers and staff trained specifically in remedial education.
  
• Books, school supplies, practice tests, computers and online tutorial programs must be purchased and maintained so the kids have what they need for school and for at-home study.
  
• Access to higher learning through endowed scholarships.  Generous friends help our kids who wish to pursue higher learning—including City Colleges, trade school or University learning—through scholarship support.

It is a priority here at Mercy Home for Boys & Girls to see that the children in our care not only develop a value for education and personal knowledge, but that they also have every opportunity to nurture their minds to build for successful and rewarding futures.  This is the surest way for our kids to break from the cycle of poverty.

In Cook County:

• 23% of the families are living below the poverty rate
• Impoverished children alone comprise 20% of the area’s poor
• Low achievement in school has been shown to be an important predictor of substance abuse and delinquency,
• Chicago Public Schools (CPS) dropout rate is 24.2% overall, and only 49% of minority students will graduate from high school
• 55% of those attending CPS who are in foster care, or other out-of-home care situations, dropped out…Another 10% became incarcerated

If you wish to support a child’s education with a gift at this time, please click here.  To learn more about specific giving opportunities related to education, including fully endowed scholarships, please contact Joe Wronka at joswro@mercyhome.org or call Joe at 312-738-7565.