For 50 years, Trinity Community Center has focused on serving under-resourced children, youth, and their families in New Orleans, LA. Our after school program, Trinity After School Kids (TASK) provides one on one tutoring, homework help, counseling and structured enrichment activities, while our summer day camps offer students of Hollygrove a comprehensive program including art, math, reading, STEAM, cooking and dance.

In Hollygrove, only 13% of adults have a degree beyond a high school diploma. In addition, most parents work multiple jobs to provide for their families. These two factors alone are indicative of the fact that most of our families do not have the schooling experience or the time to provide critical engagement with their students’ learning process. The complex struggles of impoverishment, overcrowded schools, and under-resourced programming can quickly overwhelm families; quite simply, our students lack what schools and families can provide in wealthy or better resourced neighborhoods.  

Teachers and guidance counselors are inundated by issues associated with serving a population with 90% of students are on free/reduced lunch and 15% of students are expelled each year. Youth in Hollygrove are in desperate need of long term, intentional, family-based programming focused on holistic education, life skills, and college readiness to ensure appropriate development, increased college access and completion as well as job placement.  

Because of these challenges, it has been our mission to walk along students from kindergarten through college, providing student-mentor relationships built on trust, accountability, and empowerment. While our students lack the tools to successfully navigate the challenges from grade-school through the tedious college application process, when TCC comes alongside them and their family with a network of experience and resources, the potential each child can be realized. 

Two years ago, we began implementing a rigorous reading program, as more than half of our students were below grade level. Statistically, if students are not on grade level by 9th grade, their chances of graduating are reduced by half. In the last year, our students have increased reading comprehension by more than two grade levels on average. Currently, more than 70% of our students are at or above grade level, with another 10% on track to be on grade level by the end of the school year.   

Recognizing the need for critical thinking skills and interdisciplinary curriculum, TCC opened a Makerspace in February and integrated STEAM instruction into both our after school and summer programs. Students have spent over 50 hours each in the Makerspace and many have discovered passions for robotics, design, woodworking and video design as a result.  

In order to increase the ability to process and apply the educational enrichment, we partner with Family Services of Greater New Orleans to provide life skills, trauma counseling and parenting classes. While the challenges facing our kids are complicated, TCC is determined to offer a multifaceted solution to equip each student with the tools to build their own future.