KIDS HOPE USA History

October 1993—KIDS HOPE USA began with a question and a discovery.

The Question

We asked experts in law enforcement, education, religion, and health and human services if churches could address the needs of growing numbers of at-risk children. They responded with one voice:

Churches that mobilize and train their members to form one-to-one relationships with the youngest children can make a profound difference in their lives. These children need a relationship with a caring adult!

The Discovery

Many church members wanted to make a difference in the life of a child but they did not know how. And their churches often lacked an organized system to prepare or sustain them for that involvement.

November 1994—The KIDS HOPE USA model was designed to teach churches how to give hope to at-risk public elementary schoolchildren through a relationship with a caring church member. Described as the KIDS HOPE USA Way, the model relies on the interplay of four integral parts:

• One child: an at-risk public elementary school child who needs a relationship with a caring adult;
• One hour: sixty critical minutes each week when a trained mentor befriends a child and helps him or her acquire basic academic skills;
• One church: a committed congregation who owns the program with its neighborhood school and provides a trained mentor and a behind-the-scenes prayer partner for each child; and
• One school: a school that welcomes this proven intervention to increase the academic skills of at-risk children, at no cost to the school.

February 1995—KIDS HOPE USA initiates three pilot sites in Michigan. These programs trigger interest in many other communities, where church and school representatives request program information.

Today—KIDS HOPE USA has helped 530 Christian churches in 29 states engage their members in the lives of over 8,000 at-risk children. Located in urban, suburban and rural communities, these churches range in size from 40 to 5,000 members and represent over 30 different denominations.