Hacker 25

Hacker Group has been working hard the past few months to raise $25,000 for a local cause in honor of our 25th anniversary. The charity we picked is First Place School. First Place is an elementary school for kids in crisis. But it's more than just a school – it serves whole families who are struggling with issues like homelessness, job loss, mental illness, domestic violence, substance abuse and former incarceration.

1. First Place loves — really loves — children. All with a goal of gaining long-term stability for the whole family.
2. Class sizes are small. Each child has an individual learning plan. Tutors and mentors are also part of the plan as well as an after-school enrichment program.
3. School supplies — even clothing and shoes — are part of the program, so no child needs to be embarrassed by going without.
4. They even provide a nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack for the kids they help.
5. First Place provides "wrap-around family support." Their services include case management, job counseling, job skill training, life skills, health support and family therapy.
6. If "family support" means providing transitional housing — they do that, too.
7. First Place helps prevent homelessness by helping families pay the rent when needed.
8. In 2009, First Place Family Support Services served 295 individuals through Emergency Rental Assistance, Housing Stability, Family Unification and Family Stabilization. 41 of the families served had children who attended school at First Place.
9. All these services are provided at no cost to the family.
10. The program works. Children who had previously dropped out of school have become AP scholars. And of the 85% of families that First Place can get into temporary housing, most will make it to permanent housing that lasts beyond three years.