About Boys Hope Girls Hope of Kansas City
One of 16 affiliates across the United States and Latin America, Boys Hope Girls Hope of Kansas City helps academically motivated middle and high school students rise above disadvantaged backgrounds and become successful in college and beyond.
Our goal is to graduate young people who are physically, emotionally and academically prepared for post-secondary education and a productive life, breaking the cycle of poverty. Boys Hope Girls Hope of Kansas City utlizes the following elements to achieve our mission:
- Academic excellence
- Service and community engagement
- Family-like settings to cultivate youth empowerment
- Long-term and comprehensive programming
- Faith-based values
- Voluntary participant commitment
"Not only has Boys Hope Girls Hope guided me in becoming a holistic person, its primary focus, but it also gave me the tools to disseminate that knowledge to future generations.”
Trey Randle, Alumnus & First Collegian Graduate
Our Mission
Boys Hope Girls Hope of Kansas City helps academically capable and motivated boys in need to meet their full potential and become men for others by providing a value-centered, family-like home, opportunities and education through college.
Our Vision
Our vision is for scholars to reach their full potential and become healthy, productive, life-long learners who:
Adapt to an ever-changing world | Thrive in the face of obstacles | Generate a positive ripple effect in their families, work places, and communities
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ACADEMIC FOCUS
We believe in the transformative power of education to develop lifelong learners, using:
• Strengths-based, positive youth development approaches
• Practical preparation for careers that sustain one’s self and family
• Exposure to diverse, life-enriching opportunities that enhance learning
• Scholarship incentives to encourage and maximize self-directed learning -
SERVICE AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
We believe in the Jesuit-inspired, values-centered hallmark of building “persons for others” by:
• Developing character through service learning activities related to social justice and civic responsibility
• Educating those at every level of our organization in cultural competence
• Seeking collaborative partnerships to enhance our mission -
FAMILY-LIKE SETTINGS TO CREATE A SENSE OF BELONGING
We believe youth derive their energy and sustenance from nurturing environments that provide:
• Inclusion in a loving community that meets youth where they are and also sets high expectations
• A feeling of “being home,” with residential care as needed
• Strong and supportive developmental relationships with adult mentors and peers
• Stability, structure, and individualized guidance in small settings
• Modeling of positive values -
LONG-TERM AND COMPREHENSIVE COMMITMENT
We believe an enduring relationship with youth holds the most promise for attaining positive outcomes by:
• Intervening early to support scholars, from adolescence through college graduation, and beyond
• Offering a holistic spectrum of programming that evolves with the age and needs of youth
• Providing ample opportunities for youth to develop social and emotional learning skills -
FAITH-BASED VALUES
We believe that a loving God cares about the life of every individual, and we manifest this belief by:
• Focusing on those most in need of our services
• Respecting, serving, and engaging people from all faith traditions
• Fostering spirituality and an active faith life as essential elements of healthy personal development
• Helping youth develop a moral compass based on universal principles -
VOLUNTARY PARTICIPANT COMMITMENT
We believe in the motivational power of self-selection into the BHGH program because:
• Parents and scholars share a vision for a better future
• Scholars elect to invest in themselves and are empowered to join
• Families value and trust in a working partnership with BHGH
• BHGH serves bright, capable young people who are motivated to overcome obstacles to reach their potential
Our Local Impact
BHGH of KC History
Plans for the Kansas City affiliate began as early as 2000 when founders began to determine the viability of a BHGH program for the metropolitan area, including Jackson, Wyandotte and Johnson counties in Missouri and Kansas. Determining the need was easy. Finding a location for our home was more challenging, but Hope persevered and the community rallied to provide the land, architect, builder and construction teams to raise our home in south Kansas City, Missouri. The BHGH of Kansas City home, licensed for up to 10 boys, opened in 2006.
2000
BHGH of KC Founded
Kansas City Founders met to determine the viability to replicate the BHGH program in Kansas City and began to raise funds to support a boys’ residence.
2006
First Scholars Moved In
BHGH of KC opened its purpose-built home in Kansas City, which is licensed for up to ten scholars.
2013
BHGH of KC’s Board makes a recommitment to the program, hiring a new team and renewing the organization’s commitment to our scholars and their families.
2013
The BHGH of KC Founder’s Circle was created to honor extraordinary visionaries and their impact on the mission.
2016
10th Anniversary
BHGH of KC celebrated it’s 10th anniversary of serving scholars in a year-round, round-the-clock residential environment.
2016
BHGH of KC piloted the expansion of the program to include two non-residential scholars in need. Also this year, BHGH began a partnership with Lutheran High School of Kansas City.
2017
First College Graduate
Trey Randle, BHGH of KC’s first college graduate, received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Multimedia Journalism from Northwest Missouri State University.
2017
BHGH Celebrates 40th Anniversary!
Happy 40th Boys Hope Girls Hope!
Leadership
The Boys Hope Girls Hope of Kansas City Board of Directors and staff leadership collaborate to ensure mission fidelity, financial stewardship and transparency. This team of professionals is committed to continuous learning, effective programming and improvement through impact evaluation and innovation.
Daniel C. Hogan
President, Board of Directors
Jonathan F. Smith
Program Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Daniel C. Hogan, President
Vice President
Lockton Companies
Melissa Hendricks, Secretary
Vice President of Marketing Strategy
Cerner
Paul Damon, Treasurer
Vice President
Lockton Companies
Hassan Al-Rubaie
Public Safety Communications
Mid-America Regional Council
Rasool Ahmed
President / Owner & Director of Sales
ICG Global
Robert Behner
Vice President Business Development
Mohajir Energy Advisors
Illinois Blasdel
Partner
Diamond Merckens Hogan
Marianne Damon
Real Estate Agent
ReMax Realty
Daniel Dooley
Shareholder
Polsinelli
Matthew Goehausen
Business Intelliegence
Optiv Security
Michael Haines
Vice-President of Financial Reporting
American Multi-Cinema, Inc.
Gregory Harkness
Principal
Rockhurst High School
Kerry Scanlon
Senior Vice President
Platform Ventures
Jake Reid
President
Sporting Kansas City
Christopher Schnieders
Partner
Wagstaff & Cartmell
David Tonnies
Owner
TDC Company
Brian Weiford, MD
Cardiology
Mid-America Cardiology at KU
David Youngstrom
Vice President Commercial Banking
UMB
Tonya Dean
Executive Director
Boys Hope Girls Hope of Kansas City
Kristin Ostby de Barillas
President & CEO
Boys Hope Girls Hope International
The BHGH of KC Founder's Circle
The Boys Hope Girls Hope of Kansas City Founder's Circle celebrates the legacy and impact of our first extraordinary visionaries—exemplary men and women for others—whose generosity, determination and philanthropic support have sustained the vital work of our affiliate on behalf of bright, capable children in need within the Kansas City community.
Each year, the BHGH of KC's Founder's Circle and Board of Directors select honorees to be inducted into this distinguished group at the Circle of Hope Benefit Breakfast.
Class of 2013
Michael J. Callahan
Don Knopke
Richard W. Miller
Jerome Reardon
Gino Serra
Tim Trabon
Mark Thompson
Jay Waldenmeyer
Class of 2014
Rev. Terrence A. Baum, SJ
Rev. Don Farnan
Rev. Thomas A. Pesci, SJ
Jennifer Scanlon-Smith
Class of 2015
Marianne Damon
David Knopke
The McGilley Family
James McGilley
Mark McGilley
Class of 2016
Mel Mallin
The Need We Address
Prior to joining our program, our scholars’ circumstances include environmental barriers that make it difficult to concentrate on achieving their goals. The relationship between educational failure and poverty creates a vicious cycle that affects too many children in our communities and negatively impacts our entire society.
- Twenty-one percent of children in the US live in poverty (Census Bureau, 2014)
- Children born into poverty are six times more likely to drop out of school (Cities in Crisis, 2008).
- The longer a child lives in poverty, the lower their overall level of academic achievement (Guo and Harris, 2000).
- Children from families in the highest income quartile are 8 times as likely to earn a college degree that those from the lowest income quartile (Pell Institute and Penn Ahead, 2015).
- In 1980, college graduates earned 29% more than those without. By 2007, that gap grew to 66% (Baum & Ma, 2007).
- The costs to United States society are significant in terms of economic productivity, tax revenue, health care over-utilization, parental attention to children’s educational development, civic engagement, and volunteerism (Baum & Ma, 2007).
- According to CEOs for Cities, every one percentage point increase in adult four-year college degree attainment adds an additional $763 to per capita income per year (One Student at a Time, 2013).
- Cohen and Piquero (2009) monetized the cost to society over the course of a “negative outcome” child’s lifetime as follows: High School Dropout = $390,000 - $580,000, Plus Heavy Drug User = $846,000 – $1.1 Million, Plus Career Criminal = $3.2 - $5.8 Million.