Anderson Outreach, a Charlotte-based charitable organization, is making a difference in the lives of equity-impacted youth across the Carolinas.
The Anderson Outreach team is committed to supporting equity-impacted youth as they transition from group homes and treatment facilities. They help them triumph over mental health challenges and food insecurities.
Their work throughout the community is a beacon of hope, showing these young individuals that a brighter future is within their reach.
How Anderson Outreach Impact Lives
Anderson Outreach was established in March 2023 by Alfred Owens, a devoted father, husband, and son of a Baptist Minister. He is driven by a personal commitment to empower children and youth to not only survive but also thrive.
Many of the youth they help either reside in or have aged out of treatment facilities and group homes. Often, they have experienced abandonment and almost every form of abuse and trauma imaginable. Although most residential settings do a fantastic job providing the daily necessities of young people, the outreach program that Anderson Outreach has created provides workshops, therapeutic support and other fun activities that offer more individualized support and focus.
Without parents and due to state regulations, opportunities to strengthen essential life and social skills are often missed. Anderson Outreach stands out by advocating for the physical, emotional, and educational well-being of youth from various ethnic backgrounds.
Ensuring Youth Survive and Thrive
Anderson Outreach develops every program, gift, celebration, and initiative with the youths’ individualized needs in mind and allows these young people to work through their feelings by creating a safety net for their basic needs through various programs.
Once their basic needs are met, they can then work to teach them vital skills that they can continue to build upon, for a lifetime.
“We are in the business of mending hearts through our outreachand preparing them for a promising future,” says Board Chair Alesia Fleming.
To ensure no youth is forgotten, Anderson Outreach celebrates them every chance they get! The Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate! Holiday Initiative makes sure that every child does not spend their holidays alone. The Anderson Foundation delivers goodies and gifts, hosts birthday parties, and provides activities for youth in their programs.
This is just one example of ensuring every child is cared for. Programs like these are where real connections are made, and give hope and something good to look forward to.
Upcoming Programs
To best serve the youth, Anderson Outreach has several other notable programs that help alleviate some of their challenges.
The Summer Power Packs for Kids program provides warm meals, fun gifts, toiletries, and other personal items for eight weeks during the summer to mitigate food insecurities. This summer, they are aiming to provide hot meals to over 500 youth and their families.
Equity-impacted youth often move around a lot. The Baggage Claim program assists youth transitioning from facilities, group homes, and foster care by removing the garbage bag that carries personal items and replacing it with a piece of luggage they can call their own. It is called Baggage Claim because they check in the trash bags and walk into more positive experiences with new luggage.
They also have programs to help the youth thrive in different skill sets. Every program is created with compassion to positively impact the lives of these often-forgotten young people.
“Our programs strategically focus on strengthening their social and interpersonal skills,” says Fleming. “So many things we teach our kids as parents through rites of passage or as they become age-appropriate these young adults simply do not receive.”
The equity-impacted youth they support can take cooking classes, life and social skills workshops, tutoring classes, financial literacy workshops, and even participate in a therapeutic grief and healing horse riding program.
Continuing Commitment
The dedicated team at Anderson Outreach draws inspiration from other leaders in charitable organizations, including World Central Kitchen.
The founder of World Central Kitchen, Chef José Andrés, recently stated, “The best future we can provide our children is when we provide for the children of people we do not know the same future we wish to provide our own.” This philosophy aligns with their effort, letting the youth know they are loved and matter.
“Collectively, we can make a difference in the lives of the forgotten,” says Fleming. “Our commitment and presence can dissolve the feelings of abandonment and disappointment. Join us as we make great things happen and impact lives! Impact over everything!”
How Others Can Help
Over 90% of the youth Anderson Outreach helps struggle with a mental health diagnosis. They provide a safe space to express themselves, their concerns, and their needs. This creates an environment that removes the stigma associated with mental health and opens the door for non-judgmental engagement.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so it is the perfect time to start helping Anderson Outreach serve equity-impacted youth in our area.
“If we do not prioritize and make a significant investment, as good stewards, in the mental health of our youth, who will? The barriers, hurdles and stigma attached to these precious souls related to their respective diagnosis will yield consequences that will not be theirs alone, to bare alone,” says Fleming.
You can become an Anderson Outreach Champion in different ways, including volunteering, in-kind donations, monetary donations, corporate sponsorships, and sponsoring a child. You can even set up recurring donations to any of their programs, which makes helping easier. Any help, big or small, makes a difference for the equity-impacted youth in our community.
Anderson Outreach welcomes collaborations. They believe more can be accomplished working together on this life-changing, lifesaving work.
To give, partner, or volunteer, visit their website and follow them on Instagram.
In partnership with the Anderson Foundation.
