This past holiday season was filled with many generous donations and gifts. We want to give special recognition to our neighboring businesses at Parkway One and Two for the huge outpouring of love they decided to give our students this year. Parkway One and Two reached out to us to…
“It takes a village to raise a child, and YELLS is like an extended family.” – YELLS Afterschool Program Parent We’re so blessed to have a community that uplifts our work at YELLS and wraps their arms around our Franklin Gateway neighborhood. The YELLS Family is truly powerful: 33+ partners…
“YELLS helped me to grow in my communication skills, keeping eye contact, networking skills, and becoming more of a leader. It helped me to see that there is always a way around things. If there is a bad situation, there’s always a way to make it better. The YELLS values…
Our daily volunteers are a very important part of the YELLS team. Volunteers are needed to help make sure that everything runs smoothly and our kiddos receive the individual guidance to help them learn and grow. Dan Moore, affectionately referred to as Mr. Dan, came to YELLS last year as…
Last school year was a very successful year for many of our students, but we’re especially proud of one of our graduates who, after struggling with many family issues, wasn’t sure she saw a path to graduation before she began at YELLS. Ansleigh recalls learning about YELLS from her two…
We want to give a big shout out to three of our partners, Advanced MD, Assurant Solutions, and United Way! Each of them played a role in making a very special afternoon for our students! Advanced MD, a Global Payments company, first came to YELLS in 2017, and we are…
Each year our YELLS teens embark on a journey of self-discovery and teamwork as the Mentoring “Bigs” and Community Action Café Scholars join together for an intensive weekend retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The retreat focuses on servant-leadership and building upon YELLS’s core values while strengthening family ties among…
Celebrating 10 Years of YELLS: A Look Back My name is Bridget Reyes, and I’m a proud YELLS alumna and Board Member! My reflection here is one in a series of reflections leading up to YELLS’s Tenth Anniversary Networking Dinner. This amazing organization and the people who make it so incredibly…
“This will not be my last one,” YELLS Achievement Club member and Franklin Gateway resident excitedly shared as she closed out her first community mixer. Brenda Gregory, a grandmother of one of our YELLS youth, hosted her first community mixer as a part of her chosen Achievement Club goals, and…
YELLS is so fortunate to have such amazing volunteers. This month, we want to thank the volunteer team that gave up their entire weekend to join us at Camp Blue Ridge for our Servant Leadership Retreat. DJ, Cameron, and Jenny all started in different places at YELLS, but joined forces…
