They have the ability. We provide the opportunity.
Boys Hope Girls Hope aims to nurture and guide motivated young people in need to become well-educated, career-ready men and women for others.
Boys become scholars in our program as early as 5th grade and remain in our program through college graduation. They live in our family-like home and become part of a scholarship community, attending college preparatory schools and accessing a broad spectrum of support services, such as life skills coaching, socio-emotional support, therapeutic services, developmentally targeted programming, out-of-school time academic assistance, and more.
Program Delivery
Our residential program provides youth with a family-like home and a sense of belonging, both of which are critical to healthy adolescent development. Scholars spend their school days with one of our academic partners: Rockhurst High School and St. Thomas More. Scholars explore a variety of interests and receive a broad spectrum of services during the evenings, weekends, and summer months: academic enrichment camps, guided exploration of college and career options, university visits, personal development and goal setting, community service, and extracurricular activities.
Our home accommodates up to 10 scholars, who are cared for by live-in, round-the-clock professional Residential Counselors. Scholars share chores, do homework together, attend religious services, eat, and grow up together. Academic growth and whole-person development are the program focus: residential scholars are enrolled in college-preparatory programs at top-rated area schools; scholars are matched with tutors who help them reach their academic potential and mentors who share their life experience; they are enrolled in extracurricular activities designed to help them discover themselves and the world around them; and they engage in community service projects that teach them the value of living a life committed to serving others.
We not only walk alongside residential scholars as they navigate college selection and admission, but we also continue offering academic, socio-emotional, and financial support as they persist toward college graduation. Boys Hope Girls Hope alumni land dream jobs in a variety of fields: medicine, law, social service, fine arts, public service, engineering. It is also common for graduates of our program to stay actively engaged with us as volunteers, board members, and ambassadors.
For BHGH residential and non-residential scholars, a college education is not a dream, it is an expectation. College Road is a multi-year, interactive program with specific activities that are proven to prepare scholars for the demands of campus life and independent living. It was initiated in 2000 by BHGH International to drastically increase college graduation rates among participating youth. Each scholar uses a digital MyRoad Portfolio, which is a personalized guide to his/her College Road activities from 7th grade through the college planning process. The College Road curriculum is designed to help BHGH college students develop three critical attributes for success in education as well as professional life: competency, connectedness and confidence.
Through the BHGH International Scholarship Fund, scholars having completed College Road activities and MyRoad benchmarks, enrolled in 15 or more credit hours and maintaining specific GPA requirements may apply for scholarship funds each semester through college degree completion (in five years or less).
Who We Serve
We serve academically capable and motivated children in need. Need includes a variety of tough situations such as poverty, family stress, parent/guardian illness, neighborhood violence or underperforming schools—most anything that would prevent a highly capable child of reaching his or her full potential.