Youth Villages

  • A leading national nonprofit, Youth Villages helps children and their families with emotional and behavioral support. Their programs have also assisted over 8,000 youth make the transition into adulthood through YV LifeSet.
  • Formerly known as the Transitional Living program, the YV LifeSet Program provides case management, counseling, and support to at-risk youth and young adults who have been in foster care or state custody. Youth involved in this program also receive support with pursuing post-secondary education and flexible funds for employment training and housing.
  • Through its support of vulnerable youth, the YV LifeSet program has decreased homelessness, food scarcity, violent relationships, and mental health issues among foster children in transition. To support the important work that Youth Villages performs in our community, The Cemala Foundation has provided a grant of $30,000 to assist 160 youth state-wide through a counselor position in Greensboro.

StepUp Ministry

  • StepUp Greensboro provides invaluable services to our community. Following several steps to prepare participants, StepUp facilitates a job skills workshop, a life skills workshop, and an alumni program where individuals stay connected to their network after finding employment.
  • Since StepUp Greensboro opened in 2011:
    • Over 1,300 people have attended their week-long Job Readiness workshops
    • Over 600 people who successfully completed their workshop found employment
    • 45 employers in Greensboro have partnered with StepUp to hire graduates of their workshop programs
  • Job Readiness is fundamental to The Cemala Foundation’s vision statement for our work: Every citizen earning a living wage. Because of StepUp’s active mentoring and training programs, Cemala has invested over $10,000 since 2017.

Reading Connections

  • For over 20 years, the Cemala Foundation has provided Reading Connections with funding support. Reading Connections provides adults with literacy classes to improve their reading and writing skills.
  • Reading Connections enables students to pursue attaining their GED, applying for citizenship and finding new employment. Its two adult literacy programs provide valuable self-sufficiency and workforce service training essential to families in our community.
  • Further, Reading Connections started a collaborative initiative in 2018 to train locally resettled refugees and immigrants to work in our region’s sewing industry.

Junior Achievement

  • From 2015 to 2017, Cemala invested in Junior Achievement of Central North Carolina to support its American Dream: Prepare to Succeed program. This program enables high school juniors to shadow employees in different areas of a company to better understand the skills required to succeed in those positions.
  • In 2018, Junior Achievement successfully implemented its joint project, reporting that:
    • 99% of students said the program helped a lot or made all the difference in their ability to be successful at a job.
    • 85% of students said JA Job Shadow helped in their understanding of the connections between schoolwork and jobs.
    • 88% of students said the program made all the difference in their desire to stay in school.
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