Light In The Darkness + My Ruckus Maker Interview
Our world feels heavy right now.
I don’t have answers or insights, but here’s what I know…
If every child on our planet were given everything they need to thrive mentally, emotionally, physically, and academically and to know and use their unique genius in a positive, fulfilling way – our world would look vastly different.
Providing that to every child on the planet is a tall order. However, a handful of seeds can become a field of wildflowers. When we each contribute to raising up youth in our communities, even in a small way, it has a profound ripple effect.
Here’s How You Can Help…
My nonprofit, Illuminated Life School, is launching an afterschool program for at-risk 10th-12th graders called Financial Titans.
Financial Titans is a 6-Month Deep Financial Literacy and
Well-Being After-School Program for At-Risk Youth.
We’re rolling out our first Financial Titans cohort now, and our goal is to put 100 students through this life-changing 6-month program in 2024.
Here’s how it works:
We feed students a filling whole-food meal each night of the program (many of our students experience food insecurity, and these are the most nutritious filling meals they get each week).
We provide students with mental & emotional well-being support, training, and tools.
We take students through a hands-on, deep financial literacy program (you can see an outline of our program here).
When students are supported physically, mentally, and emotionally and given the guidance and resources to break the cycle of poverty and be financially free… it changes the trajectory of their lives, which, of course, has a PROFOUND ripple effect in our world.
We need your donations!
It costs $1,000 to put a teen through this 6-month life-changing financial literacy program.
In addition to being a 501c3 non-profit, we have 1101.01(a) Status, so if you have an Act 22/60 decree, your Act 22/60 mandatory donation qualifies… we’re also a CECFL charity – the additional designation of eradicating childhood poverty. This means that no matter what type of Act 22/60 decree you have, we can accept your full donation (but you’re not obligated to give your full donation to any one charity; you can split it up if you desire).
We take donations in any amount, and everything helps.
You can donate in 3 minutes online, HERE.
OUR LONG-TERM VISION: The Illuminated Life School Network will serve students from birth to graduation in micro-schools (pod schools) and with a virtual/homeschool program. Students will have the option to move between a physical micro-school and our online academy, as it meets their needs.
This will allow us to deliver a truly customized learning experience to every student and to be nimble and jump over all of the red tape to deliver a new revolutionary education model, preparing kids for a world that doesn’t yet exist.
To create equity between resourced and under-resourced students, our micro-schools will have a sliding scale tuition. All of our schools will include a healthy whole-food breakfast, lunch, and snacks. And as many of our schools as possible will have their own gardens!
WHERE WE’VE STARTED: We’re testing out our new model of education through after-school programs. This allows us to immediately start working with students, making a positive impact while we test and tweak our model.
Our first after-school program is Financial Titans, and we’re rolling out our first cohort now, and our goal is to put 100 students through this life-changing 6-month program in 2024.
WHAT’S NEXT: Over the next few years, we’ll be plugging away, preparing to open our first micro-school. While we do that, we’ll be running life-changing after-school programs to test and tweak our model and to make an immediate positive impact on at-risk kids.
You can hear more details about our education model, micro-school concept, and Financial Titans in this interview I did with Better Leaders Better Schools.
Shaking up the status quo is no small task, but together, we can do amazing things.
Thank you for your support,
Heidi DeCoux
Founder & President of the Board
P.S. If you live in Puerto Rico and want to volunteer for Financial Titans, fill out this form please.
