Current high school dropout rates in Colorado are startling. Half of all ninth graders in Denver and a quarter of them in the metro region will not finish school. Without a high school diploma, it is increasingly difficult for an individual to pursue a career that pays enough to meet their basic needs without public assistance.

Let’s create a community where all students receive the support they need to graduate from high school, enter the workforce prepared for success, and give back to our community. Our Five-Year Plan focuses on:

•	Tutoring
•	Mentoring
•	After-School Programs
•	Individual Development Accounts
•	United Way’s 2-1-1

We combine our community’s strengths – from the Mayor’s Office and leading businesses to local school districts, foundations and nonprofit organizations – to create lasting solutions that empower every student in metro Denver to graduate from high school.

Making a Difference

Last year, more than 47,900 youth participated in tutoring, anti-bullying, after-school programs, mentoring relationships, and other positive activities. Our goal is to increase the number of youth we serve to 78,100 youth in 2011.

•	We invested in after-school programs for 27,400 youth in metro Denver, including 9,100 youth who participated in free activities supported by our Lights On After School partnerships with school districts and cities in metro Denver.
•	Through the Youth Mentoring Collaborative, we’ve combined the strengths of 16 different mentoring organizations to provide 2,800 local youth with mentors. By working together, we are raising awareness of the effectiveness of mentoring, and recruiting more mentors than each agency would be able to recruit alone.
•	We also provide youth with Individual Development Accounts to help them save for post-secondary education and other investments to achieve financial stability.

Click here to read a At-Risk Youth Success Story