NEWS - Non-Profit Organizations

From Staff Reports

AWOL All Walk of Life, Inc. has announced that the organization has been awarded a grant in the amount of $20,000 from the Comcast Foundation.
This support comes at a significant time for AWOL. With government budget cuts looming, support from local and national foundations will be critical to help buoy AWOL's budget and allow them to continue serving local youth.

Support from the Comcast Foundation will allow for AWOL to purchase updated equipment and supplies for the program as well as support the program's continued operations. The benefits to the community are numerous: youth ages 12-18 have access to high quality arts and technology programs that increase their digital literacy levels and promote positive relationships with adult role models.

“This is a really exciting and extremely important initiative for Comcast and the Comcast Foundation. Developing digital literacy skills in young people is essential to their future,” said Mike Daves, area vice president and general manger for Comcast of Savannah. “Along with digital education, young people will experience a unique opportunity to improve their lives and the lives of others by cultivating leadership skills, impacting their neighborhoods through community service and preparing for their bright futures in the workforce.”

The mission of the organization is to promote and provide self-awareness by providing youth with safe and free after-school and evening arts-based educational programs.

The organization’s main goal is to successfully develop youth in an environment that encourages respect, education, creativity and most of all non-violence. Using the elements of hip hop as a means to promote self-expression and self-respect, AWOL strives to provide troubled youth with an outlet for their creative energy and frustration, empowering them to overcome peer pressure and to make better decisions in their daily lives.

The organization serves more than 100 youth annually from some of Savannah's high poverty and high crime areas during what researchers term, the "critical hours" which are after school and at night when youth are most likely to get into trouble. With an annual operating budget of just over $200k, the organization provides a significant economic boon to the community by preventing and detering juvenile crime.

What began as a casual gathering of poets, musicians and emcees at Savannah State University in 1997 was incorporated as a non-profit group in September of 2004, a way for founder/CEO Tony “Polo” Jordan, an emcee and probation officer, to compromise between his love of hip hop and his experiences helping troubled kids. Juxtaposing hip hop culture and positive youth development though various artistic mediums, the organization has become one of Savannah’s premier youth serving organizations.

"Creativity and expression are truly what will launch us as a society into the next century. It is so important that even during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression that companies like Comcast, local governments and community members ban together in support of our greatest natural resources, youth. We are humbled and thankful to have the support of Comcast," said Jordan.

The organization hosts a number of events including a weekly television show called the Chop Shop, a monthly open mic night (Therapy Session), a conflict resolution workshop, an annual hip hop history play, digital arts education programs involving film and music production (My Block and The P.R.O.J.E.C.T.S.) and the IT program training youth to refurbish used computers.

According to a 2009  study conducted by the State of Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, the annual cost to detain one youth in secure detention for just one year was a whopping $63,105 dollars. Since 2004, AWOL has provided services to nearly 500 youth with 85 percent of those enrolled and retained going on to complete high school and more importantly, stay out of trouble. This constitutes a cost savings of over 2.1 million dollars for our communities tax payers.

“This grant awards shows just how important local support from the City of Savannah, the Chatham County Commission and our local United Way is in terms of helping AWOL to grow it's capacity and ability to win the support of local and national foundations thus leveraging the support of our local tax payers. Without local support, their can be no national support," said Davena Jordan, executive director, of AWOL Inc.

The Comcast Foundation provides financial support to organizations that have a strong presence in the communities they serve and match the companies dedication to expanding digital literacy, promoting community service and building tomorrow’s leaders. Since its founding in 1999, the Comcast Foundation has distributed more than $65 million in cash support of programs implemented locally in Comcast communities.

AWOL is proudly supported by The City of Savannah, The Chatham County Commission, United Way of the Coastal Empire and Cricket Wireless.