Helping Students Overcome Challenges

RbA of Western New York partners with Education Success Foundation to help at-risk students achieve success

The pandemic sent a lot of students home to learn remotely. Unfortunately, many students struggled greatly with this shift to remote learning, unable to attend school from home due to an unstable home environment, no internet access, lack of food at home, or a parent’s inability to pay for daycare while away at work. This is exactly what happened in the Western New York school district. Thankfully, this community has RbA of Western New York to aid them.

When RbA of Western New York was apprised of what was happening with many students in the community in 2020 during the pandemic, they immediately stepped up to help. This effort flourished into a lasting partnership with the Education Success Foundation (ESF). Check out the video below to see the inspiring impact of this partnership.

ESF is a family of organizations supporting programs and services offered by EnCompass: Resources for Learning for about 2,400 students.

EnCompass provides academic and wrap-around services for children pre-K through high school graduation. They help with things like transportation, tutoring, food banks, laundry facilities, family cooking classes, and after-school entertainment. During the pandemic, they offered kids a safe space to attend school online for free.

“We wanted to be a part of that kind of dedication to the children in our city,” said Brendan Welsher, Marketing Manager at RbA of Western New York. Now, they partner with ESF to help with building improvements (including window projects), serving food at events, decorating and chaperoning for events, providing employment opportunities for programs, and assisting financially with an annual donation.

RbA of Western New York’s hometown, Rochester, has the second highest child poverty rate in the country at 49 percent.

“The children who Education Success Foundation serves are at an extreme disadvantage due to lack of opportunity, among many other disadvantages,” says Welsher.

The city’s high school’s graduation rate is 50 percent. The kids that attend the after-school program through ESF and EnCompass have a 100 percent graduation rate.

Thank you, RbA of Western New York, for being true Difference Makers in the lives of these students.