The Fall 2021 class selected City Impact as a recipient of a $5,000 grant. City Impact is a nonprofit focused on youth empowerment and community development. The organization is founded on mentoring, teaching, and empowering children to grow into leaders who can disrupt and break the cycle of poverty. City Impact helps children faced with barriers get through these challenges to flourish into empowering leaders. Starting in 1994 by offering a weekly bible club, City Impact became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1997 and has flourished since. They continue impacting our community by providing several different programs, including City Impact Leadership, City Impact Mentoring, City Impact Reading, City Impact Faith and Gifts of Love.
At the grant ceremony, Executive Director Lizzie Mattox, shared a heartwarming story about an individual who was forever changed by City Impact. This individual was told by many that he would not graduate and was ‘at risk’ for dropping out of school. With the help of the mentors and leaders at City Impact, the individual proved everybody wrong and graduated from high school. Not only did he graduate, but he was also awarded the Susan Buffett Scholarship, which covered his tuition at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He began his college career with the College of Architecture in the Fall of 2021.
Hearing stories like these genuinely represent the difference City Impact’s mission has on Lincoln’s youth. Whether it is a huge or small victory, every success matters and is celebrated by City Impact.
As a class, we found that City Impact aligned well with our class mission statement. We wanted to find an organization that helped underreached youth and their families facing poverty improve their holistic well-being and education. City Impact firmly believes in long-term relationships with youth, understanding that the key to transformation in young people is the investment of time. Through this, they spark a ripple of empowerment throughout Lincoln that impacts years to come. The Fall 2021 class appreciates the work City Impact does and the positive change they have had on our community.
The $5,000 grant funds will be allocated to the City Impact Mentoring and City Impact Reading programs to improve and expand them. Check out City Impact’s website at https://cityimpact.org/