UCAN of Memphis

UCAN of Memphis is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization headquartered in the mid-south as an in-school program for local middle and high school students. We were established in January 2006 to empower and develop at-risk middle and high school students in reducing bullying in schools which in return we hope to decrease crime in the community. We also seek to empower youth through mentoring students on goal setting, job readiness skills including interviewing techniques, how to dress for an interview, resume building, completing an application, and sustaining employment through leadership.

The mission of UCAN of Memphis is to impact young adolescents through mentoring, workforce readiness, and bullying awareness which will bring forth a positive growth in the community.

Our goal is to teach social responsibility and conflict resolution, provide soft skills training for job retention, and provide effective training programs via traditional in-person and viturally that will increase the ability to be successful communicators and citizens.

UCAN of Memphis is 3-year award winning mentoring and leadership organization for middle and high school students. We focus on instilling purpose, passion, and perseverance in middle and high school students preparing them for college, careers and to become change agents in their communities through social emotional learning and conflict resolution. Annually we serve in-school 100 students across 6 schools in partnership with Communities in School.

The mission of UCAN of Memphis is to impact young adolescents through mentoring, workforce readiness, and bullying awareness which will bring forth a positive growth in the community. Our program includes focused on mentoring students, goal setting, bullying prevention, job readiness skills including interviewing techniques, dress for success, resume building, college application preparation, and sustaining employment through leadership. Our programs were successfully implemented at Manassas High School, Humes Academy, Grandview MS, Fairly HS, Hillcrest HS, Wooddale MS, Kirby MS and DuBois MS. Participating students are selected by counselors who determine that students meet all of the requirements: must maintain a cumulative minimum 2.5 GPA scale, and no serious disciplinary sanctions at their current school in the past 365 days.

UCAN of Memphis provides culturally-relevant programming to middle and high school students in the mid-south. Each week, students attend our Blazers and Pearls sessions led by a mentor who has been vetted through the Grizzlies Mentoring Partnership. During the sessions, our students participate in team building activities, character building, develop goals, learn job readiness techniques and prepare for life after high-school. The program is proven to help both male and female students become confident and purpose-driven leaders. Our participants are exposed to prominent guest speakers from a wide variety of industries who share similar backgrounds. In addition, our guest speakers and mentors interact with the students to give them a take a hands-on, never give up approach, with the goal of building long-lasting relationships.

During our 7-month program year, the Blazers and Pearls participants:

• Build confidence by demonstrating skills related to achieving personal and academic goals
• Use communication and social skills to interact effectively with others
• Contribute to the well-being of ones school and community by participating in and leading community projects
• Develop job readiness skills for their future careers
• Understand the college preparation process
• Receive journals, incentives, laptops, school supplies, snacks, t-shirts and journals
• Group setting with mentor(s) devoted to their success
• Have access to UCAN of Memphis network of mentors
• Exposed to summer jobs/internships (ages 16+)