What are we going to do now?

On Sunday we announced to our members (we'll go live with everyone at services this Sunday) our partnership with Wesley United Methodist Church in providing after school tutoring for middle school students in the east part of Sioux Falls. Wesley currently operates an after school program for K-5th graders from Terry Redlin, an under-resourced school blocks away from their church facility. As their kids move onto middle school, they lose that program that builds relationships with them and focuses on steadily assisting their academic progress. There's several after school options for middle school students in Sioux Falls, so our program isn't about meeting an unmet need per sea, but Wesley's kids don't seem to move to these options. The fact that we can continue their program- in their vacant parsonage nonetheless (see picture)- by providing tutoring for their kids is a perfect fit for them and also for Hillcrest. One of the mothers of one of the 5th graders, who had made steady improvement through Wesley's program, asked "what are we going to now?". Her concern for her daughter was that while she was moving to a good middle school, who would help her after school like she's been used to? Hillcrest is happy to partner with Wesley in seeing if we can't be the answer to that question.