EXECUTIVE SUMMARYBeta Omega Social Services (also known as ‘BOSS’) was established in 2003 as a 501 c (3) Non-Profit organization by the Washington DC Alumni chapter of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. The organization was established as a public charity organization to support the perpetual development of underserved communities within the Washington DC metropolitan area.
Beta Omega Social Services has adopted a set of programs designed to improve the physical, economic and communal well-being of youth and families. Specifically, BOSS collaborates with vendors and qualified facilitators to provide training and mentorship. Our programs focus on nutrition and physical fitness, healthy relationships, career development, and academic advancement within the local community. We are fighting for young people to get better jobs and achieve financial stability, to graduate high school prepared for college and careers, and individuals to lead healthier lives. |
NEEDS STATEMENTThere are 4,881,500 disconnected youth in America today, or about one in eight teens and young adults (12.3 percent).However, the national average varies widely when organized by race/ethnicity in fact, the Asian American youth disconnection rate is 7.2 percent; the white rate is 10.1 percent; the Latino rate is 14.3 percent and the black rate is 18.9 percent.
At the state level the black-white disparity is so stark that even in states where white youth are faring the worst, they are still doing better than US blacks on average, and even in states where blacks are faring the best, they are still not doing as well as US whites on average. (Measure of America: of the Social Science Research Council 2017.)Specifically, Beta Omega Social Services focuses on designing training programs to mitigate the following 3 core issues among DC minority youth; |
Fractured black families & Communities
I. Destructive intergenerational sexual behaviors
II. Misogynistic treatment of women & girls
III. Absence of black men/fathers/male role models
II. Misogynistic treatment of women & girls
III. Absence of black men/fathers/male role models
Unemployment or underemployment minority youth
I. Inadequate access to funding/scholarships for college
II. Inadequateaccess to modernized professional training
II. Inadequateaccess to modernized professional training