Elevate Phoenix was granted $100,000 through the Devin Booker Starting Five grant!
Elevate will use the grant to transform unused space into a multi-purpose home for our youth to excel, to learn, to share time with their mentors, work out, conduct trainings or simply have a safe place to do their homework.
Elevate works with at-risk youth in the Phoenix Union High School District from elementary school through college by providing them with tutoring, literacy, workforce preparation, life skills development and 24/7 365 days a year mentoring. Elevate will use the grant to transform unused space into a multi-purpose home for these youth to excel, to learn, to share time with their mentors, work out, conduct trainings or simply have a safe place to do their homework. Youth will have access to computers and wi-fi connectivity, something many of them do not have at home. Shasta Pools was gracious enough to donate the space for this use.
Here is the video we submitted to win our grant; hope you enjoy it!
Big shout out to Dalila A. Gamper and Jazmine Hall for a job well done on this video.
Thank you Devin Booker! From our entire Elevate Phoenix family!
The grant was made possible thanks to a generous donation from Suns guard Devin Booker, who announced a $500,000 annual contribution to Phoenix Suns Charities over the next five years. The Suns organization grants the award to an impact program or improvement that can be brought on-line within the year of receiving the grant.
“From the beginning of my career, it has been important for me to be involved with the Suns organization and the community here in Phoenix,” Devin Booker said. “The state of Arizona, and our fans, have supported me on and off the court, and I wanted to return the love.”
Devin Booker
Phoenix Suns
Elevate Phoenix teaches accredited, elective high school classes in the Phoenix Union High School District with fulltime teacher-mentors. The success of the program continues to drive it forward, yielding impressive results. In the last eleven years, Elevate students graduate at a rate of 98%, compared to the state average of approximately 78%. A remarkable 100% of Elevate students have post-secondary plans after high school.
“The key reason for our success goes well beyond education,” Beasley added. “Elevate Phoenix has a proven track record of investing in the lives of challenged urban youth and is available 24/7 when they need help. These youths’ lives are turned around because they have solid relationships with stable, caring adults – something most are missing in their lives.”
Elevate Phoenix currently operates in the Cesar Chavez High School, Camelback High School and Maryvale High School, along with each of their feeder elementary schools, impacting about 5,000 students each year.