About the Event

A black-tie affair, Franklin Wright's Annual Spirit of Giving Gala is an elegant, fun-filled evening of awards, live music, great food and cocktails.  Families, friends, our team and supporters come together to recognize business and community leaders who give tirelessly to make sure that everyone has access to basic needs and opportunity.  Together we celebrate a year of outstanding service to the community.  Support our efforts by purchasing a table, tickets, or becoming a sponsor of this worthy and memorable event.

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Why Pathways to Hope?

With the rapid spread of COVID-19 over the past few years, children of all ages have experienced mental health disorders throughout the United States. Michigan children, along with children in Metro Detroit, are no different. This surge has put the demand for Franklin Wright Settlements’ services higher than ever before. The pandemic has left thousands of Michigan children without a parent or grandparent to care for them, making children newly bereft of a caregiver. Additionally, 38,000 Michigan children are currently experiencing homelessness or are in the foster care system. It is estimated that roughly 45% of children experience depression and/or anxiety symptoms during the pandemic, which is over 957,000 children in Michigan alone.

Unfortunately, many Michigan children are not receiving the services to succeed. Recently, Michigan was ranked 32nd in overall childhood wellbeing and 40th in education. The US Surgeon General recognizes this crisis and is encouraging caregivers and youth to invest in healthy relationships, build a sense of purpose in life, learn and practice techniques to manage stress or difficult emotions, take care of their body and mind, and also be a source of support for others.

Franklin Wright’s Pathways to Hope program addresses this serious need by providing services to youth such as mentorship, building a social network, finding a sense of purpose, exploring career opportunities, teaching confidence, social-emotional learning, access to clinical therapists, teaching how to live a healthy lifestyle, and building relationships with our staff and other children/young adults. This quintessential program relies on benevolent organizations like you to make this program successful with proper funding.

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Scroll down to learn more about the different elements of our Pathways to Hope program.

About the Pathways to Hope Program Elements

Our Pathways to Hope program enriches the lives of youth from ages 0 to 24. The different pillars of our program touch a child's life by:

• Early Start Childhood Development Center (Early Start): Starting a child's life with our Early Start  Center where children prepare for Kindergarten by learning colors, shapes, ABC's, socialization skills, and more.

• After School Enrichment Program (ASEP): Continuing nourishment as children enter Kindergarten through the 12th grade by providing transportation, a healthy snack/meal, and enrichment courses during our ASEP.

• Summer Enrichment Program (SEP): Extending fun and interactive learning for K-12th graders during the summer months with a day camp, known as the Summer Enrichment Program. In this program, children receive healthy meals and snacks, mentoring, learn social skills, and participate in enrichment courses throughout the day.

  • ​​Enrichment courses include classes that teach confidence, self-esteem, social-emotional learning, health and wellness, teamwork, sports, music/DJing, financial literacy, digital literacy, and overall social skills.​

• Leaders in Training (LIT) Teen Center: Teaching Detroit teens and young adults the training, tools, and skills they need to explore diverse careers and skilled trades to make successful and meaningful contributions to the workforce by teaching vocational training, introducing career development, enhancing career readiness soft skills, and participating in financial literacy, academic support, community activism, recreational activities, and culturally based field trips.

• Annual Summer College Tour: Immersing youth into the world of higher education and college readiness, which is a major component of our LIT Teen Center. Metro Detroit youth get the experience of traveling out of state to visit up to 10 colleges and universities, where many of the youth receive on-site admissions. Over the last 20 years, 97% of the youth who attend the college tour go on to attend post-secondary education.

• Grow Detroit's Young Talent (GDYT): Engaging youth through a summer workforce development program through the City of Detroit providing meaningful on-the-job training and career readiness. The youth participants also use a curriculum titled, “Hats & Ladders” to learn about various career fields, complete career assessments, and interactive exercises to identify career areas of interest and the skills and education needed to secure employment in their chosen career fields.

HONOREES