A mother addicted to drugs. School councilors telling them to drop out instead of providing help. Losing both parents to cancer. These are reasons we’ve heard this year from young people who have dropped out of school and are not on a path to graduate. Read Article

College: A time synonymous with fun, freedom, four (or more) years of finding oneself. Sure there was hard work, all-nighters spent studying and some lessons… Read Article

Seattle can't afford to ignore the potential of youth, including opportunity youth. Meet Eddie, whose dreams stayed in sight through United Way's Reconnecting Youth program. Read Article

Losing a parent is incredibly tough. Losing both your parents to cancer when you’re in middle school? Unbearable. 19-year-old Zena of Seattle endured that kind… Read Article

How can a community like ours have 14,000 young people with no high school diploma? It’s sad but true.   And as staggering as that number is, you have the power to not just change the outcome, but the equation. Your gift to Reconnecting Youth will help young people in our community reconnect to their education, earn a high school credential and build a solid career path to a bright future. Read Article

November is the first person in her family to earn her high school diploma. The Reconnecting Youth program helped set her up for success after circumstances worked against her. Read Article

The Parent-Child Home Program zeroes in on the opportunity gap by supporting parents during the crucial years of children’s development… and it’s working. Thanks to you, and all of our generous donors, we’re now able to reach even more kids and families to prepare them to start kindergarten ready to succeed. We have all sorts of numbers and figures to prove this program’s impact, but this says it all: Kids in the program are 30 percentage points more likely to graduate than their peers. Read Article

Race and income should not determine the opportunities young people have in school. And yet, they do. Black students are more likely to get punished—ie. Read Article

Today in King County, 14,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 have left school without graduating. With no high school credentials… Read Article

Income, race and ZIP code—do they determine a child’s chance at success in school? For too many local families, the answer is yes. With… Read Article