AMERICAS
DETROIT ACHIEVEMENT ACADEMY & DETROIT PREP
Detroit Achievement Academy (DAA) is a free public charter school currently serving kindergarten through seventh grade students. Through its unique model, DAA promotes a holistic learning approach that includes exploration, diversity and inclusion, and the arts. Within two years of opening in 2013, DAA students performed in the 99th percentile on national exams. Ray of Light has supported DAA’s music and arts programs, and funded new classroom construction.
Ray of Light also helped the DAA team purchase a new building and renovate its second school, Detroit Prep (DP). The school is home to the most intentionally diverse student body in Detroit, with one-third of students coming from low-income households. Ray of Light continues to support the dance program at DP.
DOWNTOWN BOXING GYM
Based in Detroit, Downtown Boxing Gym (DBG) serves more than 150 students, ages 8 to 18, from across Detroit and nearby suburbs. With a 100% high school graduation rate among all participants since 2007, DBG runs a free, after-school educational program providing students with tutoring, mentoring, enrichment, college and career readiness, as well as boxing and athletics.
To help DBG expand its operations and reach more students on its ever-growing waitlist, Ray of Light has supported DBG purchase a new building and funded renovations and updates to tutoring classrooms at its facility.
EMPOWERMENT PLAN
Based in Detroit, Empowerment Plan (EP) creates economic impact for formerly-homeless parents by pairing full-time employment with a wide range of supportive services and resources needed to earn a stable income, secure housing and regain independence. EP trains and employs women to produce a convertible coat, serving as a jacket, sleeping bag and over-the-shoulder bag designed to meet the needs of the homeless community.
Ray of Light supports EP’s critical operations. Since 2012, EP has employed 45 formerly homeless individuals—all of whom have now secured permanent housing for themselves and their families—and distributed more than 25,000 coats globally, at no cost to them. To date, no one has returned to homelessness once hired at the facility.
CORE RESPONSE
CORE Response (formerly J/P Haitian Relief Organization) is a disaster relief organization dedicated to saving lives and bringing sustainable programs to the Haitian people. Following the tragic earthquake of 2010, CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) supported more than 60,000 Haitians to relocate and provided a range of services focused on building stronger communities. With support from Ray of Light, CORE built École de L’Espoir (School of Hope), a primary school providing quality education for children of families in the Petionville Club camp. Today, the school serves 250 students living in underserved communities in the local neighborhood of Delmas 32.
