Statements
Mission
To unlock the potential of at-risk youth,
To remove barriers to their success,
To inspire character development, academic achievement and community involvement
...as only CAP can.
Background
Children Are People, Inc., is an after school program for at risk children. It was founded in 2000 on the premise that at risk children who were deprived of nurturing and mentoring from a caring adult were, none-the-less, deserving of such nurture and mentoring. CAP began operations in 2001 in a one-room facility in Gallatin, TN with only one teacher/mentor and 8 students. The organizational theme is reflected in its vision statement: 'at risk children [should] have an opportunity to develop their potential to the fullest.' Now, CAP has 72 enrolled children, a staff of 9 and a volunteer staff of 15 tutors/mentors/servers and is housed in a larger facility in Gallatin. There is also a waiting list of children wanting to be enrolled. Enrollment is primarily by referral from schools, although other civic agencies, courts and churches may make referrals.. The program offered by CAP has five aspects: Tutoring, Challenging, Mentoring, Community Involvement and Enrichment. Each of these aspects is designed to accomplish a specific task. Tutoring is designed to give each child academic support. It also supports the parents of children who find it difficult to help in the child's daily quest for excellence. CAP children are encouraged to take challenging courses with the knowledge that the teacher/mentor will be at hand for support throughout the instructional course. CAP presents extra-curricular information on certain career fields to the children as a mentoring effort. CAP instills a sense of civic responsibility and work cooperation within groups in the children by providing art classes, field trips and leadership activities. CAP also teaches children about governmental operations to give them a better appreciation for our country and flag. Organizationally, CAP has an Executive Director, Program Director, five staff instructors, two staff bus drivers and several volunteer tutors/meal servers/teaching assistants. It has a Board of Directors comprised of 12 community residents who are either active in or retired from the fields of business, industry, education and government. The Board has created by-laws for CAP and a strategic plan through 2023.
Impact
VISION: All at-risk children have the opportunity to develop their individual potential - to become all they hope to be. Since it opened its doors in May of 2001, CAP has grown from a one-room facility with one teacher/mentor and 8 children enrolled to a larger facility that serves 72 children and has 15 volunteer teacher/mentors. Of the 72 children, 24, or 30% were on the 'A/B Honor' rolls at their schools during the year. This was a direct result of the mentoring programs provided by CAP. Since inception, CAP has graduated 61 high school seniors of which 94% have pursued post-secondary education. CAP also provides the Dale Carnegie Generation.Next program to all middle and high school students enrolled at CAP. This class is a part of CAP's Job Readiness program that is funded through a grant from the Gap Foundation. CAP has three goals for the current year. They are to continue to provide educational tutoring, mentoring and enrichment activities for its enrolled children, continue to assist students so that all program participants graduate from high school and seek funding for its most pressing needs which are described in the needs section of this document.
Needs
The most pressing needs for CAP are: renovations of our new building to accommodate our programs and services, additional volunteer staff and the development of a multi-year progress curriculum for CAP students. CAP was gifted a 6600 sq ft building in late 2021 but it needs renovations. Once it is ready, we will be able to serve more students, provide more programming and make a greater impact on our community. An important co-primary need is more staff. Additional children will not be able to be served without them. A third need is the development of a mulit-year curriculum that ensures success for each CAP student in each grade level. CAP would also like to obtain funding for field trips for the students, field trips that will take them out of Gallatin and give them exposure to the greater world: college tours, arts and cultural tours, and a tour our the nation's capital.
CEO Statement
From day one, CAP has been more than just a workplace to me. It is the place that demands more than any other job I've ever had and it is by far the most fulfilling. In July 2007, when I drove the van for the first time to pick up our students for the Summer Program, I was floored. I saw the circumstances that our students contended with daily, and unfortunately, what they considered to be normal.
I knew then that I would do all that I could to help them, and to help strengthen CAP. Fifteen year later, our incredible students and CAP still demand my best every day.
And speaking of incredible, I have to mention Fred Bailey, our illustrious founder. Fred's background, beliefs, and philosophy are what make this organization so uniquely special - and its programs so successful. CAP, and its army of hardworking staff members and volunteers, do so much with so little. And they do it very successfully. The proof lies in almost 20 years of student successes, both in the classroom … and more importantly … outside of it.
By that I mean academic success is not that hard to attain with just a little bit of support and encouragement. Where CAP truly excels is helping students transform their attitudes, behavior, character and work ethic. It's quite rewarding to witness students go from blaming others for their failures to assuming personal responsibility and accountability.
I invite you to visit the CAP Center so that you can see firsthand the positive impact this organization is making on tomorrow's leaders. And I hope you'll consider becoming a CAP Friend, because together, we can do wonders for our children … the hope for the future.
Board Chair Statement
Children Are People, Inc. became an organization to which I chose to attach my heart and time. Many aspects of the Founder's background and beliefs attracted me to CAP. CAP is successful, and the student retention and graduation rates prove it. In the last few years, we have witnessed students from first grade through twelfth transform their grades from 'D' and 'F' to 'A' and 'B'. We've also seen significant transformation in students' attitudes initially not conducive to personal success to attitudes that will contribute to success. We see change in personal appearance as well as improved self esteem. One of the most important efforts of the founder, if not the most important, is personal accountability. To witness students change from placing responsibility for failure on others to assuming personal accountability is a wonderfully rewarding experience. When your approach includes caring adults providing positive role models to students and their families, you can expect growth and with growth comes growing pains. The many successes of the program create our biggest challenges. Those include recruiting more classroom volunteers, improving transportation, and adding suitable space for teaching and learning. The program has grown in the past 20 years from a small single room with eight students to an eight room facility, 72 students and a waiting list. We are committed to the use of no federal funding. We believe it is absolutely imperative if we are to be successful in teaching youths to develop a strong work ethic, complete their education, accept personal responsibility and be independent of government assistance, that we should accept only private funding, grants, contributions and donations.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Youth Development - Youth Development Programs |
| Secondary Category: | Public & Societal Benefit - |
| Tertiary Category: | Education - |
Areas Served
The greater Gallatin area in Sumner County, Tennessee
| TN - Sumner |
