The Motivational Edge to receive $130,000 City of Miami Award for Afterschool Programs

October 8, 2017

October 8, 2017 — The Motivational Edge (ME) has been chosen as the 501(c)(3) youth development agency to receive $130,000 from the City of Miami. These funds, effective immediately, will allow under-resourced youth at thirteen Miami-Dade County public schools to experience The Motivational Edge’s award-winning, Arts-Based Youth Development Programs.

On May 11, 2017, a resolution sponsored by City of Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez as part of the Anti-Poverty Initiative Fund was passed, thereby giving dollars to ME toward the organization’s work with Envelopes of Safety, an afterschool program established by the Miami-Dade County Public School Board after a bullet penetrated a classroom at Frances Tucker Elementary School in Coconut Grove.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ Board’s mission aligns with that of The Motivational Edge, which has been transforming the lives of under-resourced youth in foster homes, juvenile detention centers, homeless centers, and other community service sites since 2008. With these newly secured funds, ME’s existing partnership with District 7 and the School Board through Envelopes of Safety will be expanded to serve an additional 1,110 youth in need of the resources and safe space offered by ME’s arts and community programs.

“The Motivational Edge has successfully utilized the arts as a motivational/learning platform, impelling underachieving students toward desperately needed academic instruction by way of culturally relevant arts programs that increase students’ self-confidence and essential life skills,” said Ian Welsch, founder and CEO of The Motivational Edge.

Introducing the funding resolution at the City of Miami Commission Meeting on May 11, Envelopes of Safety co-creator Miami-Dade County Commissioner Xavier Suarez emphasized the importance of programs like ME and Envelopes of Safety. “The only way to make sure kids don’t fall through the cracks, is to eliminate the cracks,” he stated. “It’s important that our students and our children have a safe place to go and have great activities that they can participate in afterschool,” resolution sponsor Commissioner Francis Suarez added in his remarks at the meeting. “That’s the best that we can do as elected officials.”

Interview and media opportunities available and can be conducted at various school sites.

*** A detailed list of the 13 schools is available upon request.

About The Motivational Edge:

The Motivational Edge is a 501(c)(3) youth development agency that uses culturally relevant arts as a motivational platform to inspire youth toward academic achievement, increased self-confidence and the building of essential life skills. Using the arts as a motivational and learning platform, ME impels students who are underachieving toward desperately needed academic instruction. The youth currently served by The Motivational Edge are walking testaments that the arts are an extremely powerful learning and healing tool. For more information, please visit www.TheMotivationalEdge.org.