In 2011, when the GOODPartners entered college, 46.2 million Americans were living in poverty, according to the US Census Bureau. Like those millions of Americans, overexposure to crime and gang violence, barriers to healthcare access, an under-resourced education system, and drug use plagued our daily lives. Despite these difficult circumstances, by leveraging our gifts and talents at young ages,
we overcame the tremendous odds we faced. Today, we are working diligently in producing opportunities for young men and women across America to aid them in achieving success in an effort to repay those who have sacrificed so much for us to get to where we are today. To fulfill our commitment, GOODPartners has partnered with organizations and individuals who share our vision to change the predetermined path of the poor in America. By bolstering established charitable and philanthropic infrastructure, we are impacting poverty’s effect on the five greatest areas of need in communities:
• Emotional, Mental, and Physical Health
• Education
• Proper Nutrition
• Economic Stability
• Societal Stability
GOOD is Different
You may ask what differentiates GOODPartners from other anti-poverty organizations? The answer lies within our approach. Unlike many other programs that may seem similar, we at GOODPartners are not seeking to be the solution to poverty. That is a recipe for disaster when examining such a multifaceted issue. With any complex problem, one must first delve into its origin. Such root causes include cycles of subpar education, inaccessibility to healthy foods, inexposure to opportunity, or, as recently seen in places like Flint, lack of basic human resources. Simply put, here at GOODPartners we are the GPS for disadvantaged communities along the pathway to success. By mobilizing individuals, we produce immediate, measurable impact on the communities we serve. For example:
• Helping healthcare providers in effectively expressing to communities the importance of preventative care. Current efforts are failing, because the language and message does not resonate with certain populations, costing companies millions of dollars.
• Collaborating with schools to implement innovative curriculums tailored to the 21st century student, which will raise students’ levels of proficiency in varying subject areas. With little to no resources while in college, we gained extensive experience in proven programming specific to struggling students from disadvantaged communities.
• Expanding on current unconventional platforms in increasing the supply of fresh produce into food deserts, which disproportionately affects impoverished areas.
• Ensuring children have a means to a healthy, balanced diet rather than have their food choices limited by whether or not a grocery chain deems their nutrition of value.
• Providing students access to professional development at an earlier age in areas including pursuing higher education, financial literacy training, and networking. These skills are too often either learned very late in life or, in some cases, never at all.
• Utilizing social media as a vehicle to exposing youth to the world of opportunities outside of their immediate environments. Within the growing global economy, certain segments of the American population have been forgotten, incapable of escaping cycles of poverty.
• Using sports programing during the school year and engaging activities over the summer as deterrents from the draws of “street life.” Over the past 3 years our sports clinics have already attracted hundreds of participants through the promotion of the balance of healthy competition and living. Paying it Forward
Overcoming the situations we are working to alleviate has prepared us at GOODPartners to take on any initiative targeted at communities in need of assistance. Having taught children to read, guided youth out of cyclical probation, and exposed adolescents to opportunities to excel, we are well-equipped and ready to lead now.
