New Hope Community Center offers educational opportunities
The New Hope Community Center has partnered with Grad Solutions and Smart Schools since 2016 to help Mesa residents with educational opportunities to complete high school or earn their GEDs.
The New Hope Community Center (NHCC) provides multiple goods and services to Mesa residents. Sponsored by the Broadway Christian Church, this includes food boxes to those in need, free haircuts, free clothing, career services, and more.
In addition to meeting basic needs, the NHCC event space is available for classes and other activities geared toward engaging the people of our city to be in relationship with one another and building each other up.
New Hope Community Center Video: New Hope Community Center 2019
In 2016, NHCC partnered with Grad Solutions and Smart Schools to beef up educational offerings. Through the partnership, Grad Solutions and Smart Schools staff the center and share ways to complete high school or earn a GED.
Volunteers work with each patron to determine which direction is better for their unique situation. Sometimes it is a high school diploma, while other times a GED may be the best fit. For those who pursue a GED, Grad Solutions and Smart Schools are partnered with Mesa Counts on College, which provides high quality GED tutoring and test prep services.
To help them be successful, students are assigned a mentor, and they are provided with community support services if needed. They can even earn work-based learning credit for working. Those who want to continue beyond high school are aided by NHCC College & Career Readiness staff, who offer guidance on the FAFSA, SAT, ACT, Accuplacer and many other transitional services.
Partnerships like this one are vital, given Arizona’s graduation rate of 78 percent. The state won’t reach the Arizona Education Progress Meter goal to increase this to 90 percent by 2030 without reaching all learners.
The NHCC serves and has also graduated 62 students from their service area. Based on an estimated social and economic loss of over $500,000 over the life of a dropout, those 62 students have generated an estimated $31 million in economic and social benefit to society. But the benefit of having conquered that goal is immeasurable.
For more success stories from across Arizona, visit the Expect More Excellence Tour.
