Many children come to tutoring looking for love above all else. This is where the tutors come in. They take the love that God has freely given them and give it away unconditionally to a child from an at-risk community, thereby being God in a human body to that child. We have been able to pair about 70 children with tutors during the 2015-2016 school year. Each tutor chooses one day a week to come and love a child by doing a prepared devotion, praying, helping with homework, reading and keyboarding skills, and playing academic games and activities with this child. All materials needed are provided, although tutors are welcome to bring other materials if they wish. Each student has an individualized folder that specifies academic goals and games/activities that are appropriate for that child.

South City Site

Many immigrants and refugees call South St. Louis home. They arrive in the U.S. not knowing English, American culture or what is expected of them and not having a job. Many times the children live with a mother or grandmother. For the refugees, especially, many fathers have been killed in wars. School is a new thing to them, having come from a culture where school isn’t required or emphasized. Many of the adults don’t even know how to read their native language. It’s a desperate situation for the children who are put in an age-appropriate class in the public school and expected to keep up with their peers who have been reading English all their lives.

We help children in all grades with their academic work, primarily reading, math and homework completion. For many immigrant children, this is their first exposure to school and to learning math and English formally. Children who come to this country earlier are able to learn English in school and do fairly well. However, when they come at an older age they are expected to know the basics of the English language already. It’s very hard for these children to do any homework because all of it requires reading. They get farther and farther behind, get discouraged and eventually give up. Our hope is to give them the extra help they need to be able to do well in our schools.

For more information, or to find out about current volunteer opportunities, please contact Kristen Flores at [email protected].

South City site: 3502 Grace Ave.

West End Site

The West End is what many would call a typical “inner city” community, which can be full of desperation, hopelessness and despair. Many children are in families with only one parent or grandparent. Many others are the children of refugees or immigrants who don’t speak English or understand our culture; therefore, there are many reasons that the children need extra help with their schoolwork. But God has not abandoned the people of this community — He is raising up his people to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ through word and deed.

We encourage the children to bring homework since many do not work on it at home. We also concentrate on reading, writing and math concepts since these are the areas that affect learning in all subjects.

For more information, or to find out about current volunteer opportunities, please contact Kristen Flores at [email protected].

West End site: 1142 Hodiamont Ave.