The ComeBack Kid Society (CKS) provides free mentoring programs for at-risk youth. CKS’s partners with local schools, juvenile detention centers, and foster facilities and treatment centers where they pair at-risk youth with free mentors. For this grant, CKS will partner with local companies to offer students in the foster system with work prep and readiness classes and the opportunity to work hands-on in the field. Students’ work schedules will be based on their availability and the company’s needs. The grant will support hiring 12 students per year and cover their wages and specific work clothes or transportation if needed. The grant will also allow CKS to hire its first paid staff positions, including a full-time Executive Director who will build curricula, find experienced volunteers to help teach classes, and connect interns with local partners where they could work. The Executive Director will also recruit a grant writer who will work to secure financial resources to allow for the agency’s sustainability and eventual expansion of services.

The Arnall Community Funds are administered through Oklahoma City Community Foundation (OCCF) and provide grants to nonprofit organizations throughout the state of Oklahoma that are working to improve outcomes for individuals, children and families involved with animal welfare and in the child welfare and criminal justice systems. The OCCF staff will manage the grant administration process and all grantmaking decisions will be made by OCCF Trustees. Learn more about the process.