(upbeat music) - We're now joined by Joanna Carroll, Executive Director of Horizons Newark.

Joanna, good to see you.

- Good to see you.

Thanks for having me.

- You know, we do this ongoing series called Making a Difference, people and nonprofits who make a difference.

It's also part of our Stand and Deliver, Powering Equity, and Social Justice initiative.

Describe Horizons Newark.

- Horizons Newark, we're a nonprofit.

We obviously work in Newark, says the name.

And what we do is we provide after-school and summer programming, both child programming, to students from low-income homes in the city.

We provide them with opportunities they wouldn't have otherwise.

And so, over the summer, it's really targeted towards the learning loss that can happen over the summer in math and reading.

So, we do academics, but we also do things that, outside of that, like swimming.

We teach them to swim for free.

We do golf lessons, we do financial literacy, and we keep that year-round during the school year as well.

- Yeah.

Jump into the, I'm fascinated because I've often said this on the air, I would not have ever learned how to swim if it were not for the Boys and Girls Clubs, doesn't even exist on Broadway in Newark.

And the YMCA is big on that as well.

But one of the things that you're doing beyond swim lessons, which is awesome, is the golf piece.

- Yes.

- I'm fascinated by this.

Are you working with First Tee?

- We are, we are.

I know.

It's- - Tell everyone what that partnership is, 'cause First Tee is awesome.

- First Tee is awesome and we're really, really excited about this partnership.

So, it came about this past summer.

I've been trying to do it for some time as a golfer myself.

My family is all golfers.

Yeah.

(chuckles) And I know the benefits that it can have for students, both just in terms of getting into college and career, but also you gotta be very mentally strong.

You have to have focus, resilient.

- Oh, is that my problem?

(both laughing) - I know, I know.

It's really, it's hard.

- Hold on one second.

Before we go any further.

- Yeah.

- You hit the ball and it's going into the trap, in the bunker.

- Yeah.

- Do you say to yourself, it's in the bunker, I'm fine, I'll get out.

Or do you say, please, God, don't let the ball go in the bunker?

Which one?

- The latter.

(laughs) - I just wanna make sure.

- I don't think I'll ever get out of it.

- Okay.

That you mentioned mentally strong, that's all.

Go ahead, pick up your point.

- Yes, it's true.

Right, I'm not there.

- It's not about my struggling golf game or you not wanting to be in the bunker.

Go back to First Tee and these kids.

- Yes.

So, First Tee, we partnered, we partnered over the summer for the first time this last summer.

And we started with our middle schoolers teaching them to golf.

We really brought it on to compliment our focus on social emotional learning.

As I said, the mental toughness, resilience, confidence, pushing forward with something when it seems hard.

And it was such a success that with funding from the Little Family Foundations, we brought it over into the school year.

And we do weekly tutoring in math and reading, along with a weekly golf lesson, which can cost how much money if we didn't do it with First Tee and providing opportunities for kids who otherwise, they wouldn't be enrolled in something like this.

- Is it tuition?

Hold on.

Is the program free?

- The program is free.

We're funded entirely- - How the heck is it- - by donors.

- You get grants like we, you're a nonprofit that gets grants?

- We're a nonprofit that gets grants and individual donations.

And so, that's how we're able to do it.

So, as I mentioned, the Wilf Family Foundation does the tutoring portion, and then we partner with First Tee and provide this to our students weekly during the school year.

- Do you have a relationship with schools at all?

- Yes, yes.

We partner with 38 different schools in Newark.

We partner with their teachers and principals to recruit them into our program, which we'll say, do you see they have a need for some extra academic support, social emotional support?

'Cause we have a dedicated social worker.

And we do it that way.

And also just through the community and parents, that's how we get our students from the program.

- How do people, particularly the children and the parents of those children that you want to help, how the heck do they find out about Horizons Newark?

- So, there's a couple ways.

One, their principals should shoot something out.

We'll send a message.

It should be in the next couple weeks, so January, February to, say enrollment is open.

They can also visit our website where there is a link, you go to apply, it's in both English and Spanish.

You click through, you fill it out, and then you have to meet the eligibility requirements, which is that you either qualify for free and reduced lunch or demonstrate a financial need for our program, meaning you wouldn't be able to do something like this otherwise.

And so, then we go through and we accept into our program.

We have small class sizes, much, it's only 15 students per class with three teachers.

And really, it's a lot of fun, but also really impactful.

- Let me ask you this, as a not-for-profit leader, other than fundraising, which is always the number one challenge, what's the most challenging aspect of your work?

- Transportation.

Getting people to where we need, and I think that's a challenge for a lot of nonprofits.

So, we operate out of one location.

And in order to get our families, our families have to be able to get their child there.

It's similar to food banks, right?

We're having food distribution, but if I'm in the Central Ward and I live in the South Ward, how am I gonna get, to get the food?

- And you work with the Community Food Bank of New Jersey?

- We do work with the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.

- One of our partners as well.

Go ahead.

So, it's there.

- Yeah.

- You've got to go, they got to get there.

- You have to get there.

And that's something that we are actively working on.

We're raising money for transportation to get students at least who live the farthest from where we are to our program most easily.

Also, we have more students who wanna participate in our program than we have spots.

We need to- - Really?

- Yes, we have a wait list typically of 30 to 40 students each year, but we don't physically have the space.

So, we wanna grow.

We want people interested in having us at their locations, partnering with us, like we're ready to go.

We wanna serve as many kids as we can.

- 1 to 10, I love my job, how much 1 to 10?

- I can't even put a number on that.

And I mean that.

I, as I mentioned, I'm a mom of two little kids, and that's challenging.

And I wouldn't give this up when things get hard for anything.

I love my job.

You are making a difference every day, Joanna.

- Thank you so much.

- Well done.

Looking forward to having you back.

- Thank you.

Appreciate it.

- I'm Steve Adubato, that's Joanna Carroll doing good work.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Newark Board of Education.

New Jersey Institute of Technology.

PSE&G.

The Fidelco Group.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

The North Ward Center.

And by The Adler Aphasia Center.

Promotional support provided by Meadowlands Chamber.

And by NJ.Com.

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