COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO CARE

DonCARES of Philadelphia, Inc. is a school-based non-profit organization of college students of color who strive to better themselves through community service, education workshops, and who have a desire to give back to their community. Members advocate for youth by pledging to become a mentor and an advocate to a high school student at The U School in North Philadelphia.

DonCARES of Philadelphia, Inc. is organized to support high school students in grades 9-12 at The U School in Lower North Philadelphia, an innovative community high school within The School District of Philadelphia. DonCARES encourages college students of color at Temple University and Community College of Philadelphia to mentor secondary school students at our partnership school. Our mentors encourage school attendance, scholastic achievement, choosing college or vocational track, and valuing education as a way out of poverty and crime and as a viable career choice.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Founded in September 2015 on the principles of care and consistency our founder and executive director Donovan Forrest believes in the life-changing influence of positive mentor and mentee relationships.

As a former "at-risk" youth and a current graduate student at University of Pennsylvania, our founder believes that the people who represent higher education and academic success matter. Forrest is driven by the common belief that when high school students see their mentors are twenty-something-year-old college students of color, their perspective of what can be achieved can change.