(Editor’s Note: the following comes from The Path Project. Melinda is a graduate of Shiloh High while Jim Hollandsworth graduated from South Gwinnett High. Both are graduates of the University of Georgia. She taught for nine years at Pharr Elementary School. They live in Loganville.)–eeb
By Melinda and Jim Hollandsworth, founders, The Path Project | In 2008 my wife Melinda and I drove into a mobile home park in Loganville to deliver Christmas presents through our church. This neighborhood is home to mostly first and second generation Mexican immigrant families.
The Hollandsworths
One day one of the children in that family asked us to help her and her siblings with their homework. This resonated with us because Melinda had been a public school teacher for nine years and Jim was on staff at Graystone Church as the Missions/Outreach pastor. We started a once/week homework program that over time grew into what is now The Path Project.
One of the children we met was a sixth grader. She asked Melinda a question, one that made us stop and think: “Mrs. Melinda, when are you guys going to leave? That’s what churches have always done here. They come and only stay for a while and then they leave.” Melinda told her, “I’ll be here when you graduate high school and I’m coming to your graduation!”
Since then we have created a model that empowers Latino youth living in at-risk mobile home communities to graduate from high school with a plan for their future. To do this we go into mobile home parks and open a community center, where teachers lead pre-school, literacy, homework, mentoring and leadership programs for children and teenagers.
Our staff consistently tracks the progress of our students on their path to graduation. Compare the graduation rate of the kids who commit to our programs with the graduation rate of kids who are not in our program but are living in the same neighborhood. This year 88 percent in our program graduated from high school. They all have a college or career plan in place. Only 33 percent of kids living in this same neighborhood who were not part of the Path Project graduated from high school.
We are currently working in six mobile home parks – four of them in Gwinnett. Our vision is to reach more kids in more mobile home parks with our programs in order to help thousands of kids growing up in at-risk communities graduate high school with a plan for their future!
Beginning this school year, we will partner with Buford City Schools to offer literacy and homework programs for students who live in the Countryside Village Mobile Home Park and attend Buford Elementary and Buford Academy.
We have a former Buford Academy teacher, Katie Hove, who will be working as the Path Project community director and leading the programs in this mobile home park. She will work alongside the teachers and schools to provide additional after-school programs geared at helping these children succeed academically.
Our programs in Buford will start as two afternoons/week. We will tutor in a community center that the children will be able to walk to. The programs will be focused on reading and homework. We will also be partnering with FCA Soccer of Gwinnett to offer soccer teams for children living in this mobile home park.
- Let me invite anyone interested to The Vision Dinner on August 28 at 5 p.m. at the Buford Community Center. If interested, RSVP to info@path-project.org.
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