"Hustling Hope"

You could just tell that every word out of her mouth came with conviction. Experience. Determination. Purpose.

Eylastine Green-Roberts is the Superintendent of the YMCA Service Learning Academy --- school for over a thousand youngsters in elementary and middle school located near seven mile and the Southfield Freeway.

Of her students, 75% qualify for the free lunch program because of the presence of poverty at home.

Eylastine used a term that stuck with me. She leaned forward on the table, looked me straight in the eye and said, "We are hustling hope. That's what we are doing. Hustling Hope."

She recognizes that for many of her students, they have never been beyond his/her own neighborhood. One of her goals is that every student in her school gets a chance to travel while in school. Already, the students have made their way to Chicago, Toronto and Ann Arbor. That isn't good enough for Eylastine. She wants all her students to travel overseas.

Why?

As Eylastine said, "So they can see that this world is theirs. We just need to help them see it."

In case you are wondering, her total student population scored 92% on the MEAPS. Eylastine and the teachers at the Academy might be 'Hustling Hope', but they also are making a significant impact on 1,000 futures.

A key area of focus for United Way is having students ready for his/her future. Whether it is programs like Metro Detroit's Promise, Success by Six, Attendance Initiative or our literacy initiative, all are targeted to make sure kids are ready for school and experience success.

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