The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program helps youth who have dropped out of school and are unemployed gain the skills, education and self-discipline necessary to become productive adults.
The 17-month education, employment readiness, and youth development program has been proven to raise the educational attainment, employment and income-earning potential of participants, ages 16-18. The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program (ChalleNGe) begins with an intensive, five-month residential phase, followed by 12 months of mentoring by a trained community member who helps the participant sustain and build on the gains achieved. Founded by the National Guard to strengthen the communities in which its service members live and work, ChalleNGe is conducted at academies operated in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau, National Guard Youth Foundation, state governments and local sites.
OUR INVESTMENT
EMCF invested $4.3 million in ChalleNGe from 2010 to 2014, including assistance with business planning. During this period the program increased the number of youth it served by more than 10 percent, from 8,417 to an estimated 9,284, its number of active sites from 32 to 35, and its revenues from $140 million to an estimated $152 million, or 8.6 percent.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Learn more about ChalleNGe at ngyf.org.