Delaware Futures, Inc.

Delaware Futures provides academic, social, and motivational support and cultural enrichment that empowers economically disadvantaged high school students to recognize and fulfill their unrealized potential and become matriculated college students. We help at-risk youth prepare for college, starting in the summer after eighth grade. Our focused, personalized programs include academic enrichment, g

roup meetings (problem-solving and teamwork skills), community service, workplace internships, and one-on-one advisory. When our students graduate from high school, those who meet admission requirements qualify for full or partial tuition scholarships at our partner colleges and universities. By focusing intensive efforts on each student, we have an exceptional success rate. Delaware Futures changes the lives of students, one student at a time. In the fall of 1993, members from two Episcopal congregations, Trinity Parish and St. Matthew's Church (historically white and black congregations, respectively) joined together to initiate a project that would serve the educational needs of city youth. Using the very successful John Laws Institute of Worcester, Massachusetts as a model, the committee designed a comprehensive enrichment and support program to work intensively with a small number of high school students each year to prepare for college. A key benefit of the program is the guarantee of free college tuition for all program graduates. By the spring of 1994, the organization committee had succeeded in attracting significant interest from funders, the business community and the educational community, including area colleges and universities. The original planning group was expanded to include representatives from the higher education and business communities and the community at large. With a start-up grant from the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund, and office and program space donated by Trinity Parish, we began to recruit the first class of students and set up the various program components.