About Change the World RVA

 

Safety Net for Young Adults.  Since our founding in 2012, services for homeless high school students have improved. Our founding students have grown up, many of them college graduates working in stable, promising careers. As our students' needs changed, our focus as changed. For the most part, we now serve as a stable safety net for our college students and the young adults who have participated in our program.

 

What does being a "safety net" entail? We often compare it to the support we provide our own children. If an emergency occurs -- illness, job loss, car repair -- we want to be there to help. Our young people have done everything right - they work hard, they help others, they contribute to Change the World RVA and the community. We can offer profound help when the chips are down. And of course, we still meet regularly and have fun, too!

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Services and support we have offered.  For over 12 years, Change the World RVA has helped our students succeed in high school, college, and in life. 

 

• Providing each student with a network of caring peers & adults;

• Helping with the transition to college and work;

• Offering a popular and engaging weekly after school program;

• Supporting a peer group, other students who face the same struggles and dreams of success;

• Sponsoring our now legendary Birthday Card Brigade;

• Organizing field trips and college visits;

• Providing emergency transportation and cell phones;

• Facilitating bridges to existing services (housing, health care, job training); and

• Offering support through the college years and beyond.  We stick with our students even after they turn 18 and graduate from high school. Unlike many programs, young people never age out of Change the World RVA.

 

This is just a sample of the support we provide for our students.  As needs emerge, we do our best to address them.  Most importantly, we want each student to feel love and support from a network of caring adults.  And we want them to surround themselves with like-minded peers.  We want them to learn to advocate for themselves and others.