Why Are We Changing Our Name?

By Jim Wambach | August 8, 2019

What’s in a name?

As we raise the curtain on an exciting next chapter in our story, it’s crucial that our name truly captures the soul of our organization.

Simply put – it’s all about empowering more children to rise above the substantial challenges they face, created by generations of poverty, violence, and educational inequity. As we know, thousands of neighborhood children need caring adults to come alongside them so they may reach their God-given potential. Despite the profound difference we are making in the lives of hundreds of children each year, there is so much more we would like to do.  

The Faith Network name has served us well since 2001. In the beginning, the name described who we are and what we did. We are faith-inspired and believe in the power of enabling the entire community, people of good will, to become a network of support for the schools who were, and still are, desperate for help from the community for the children.  

The network continued to expand, supported largely by the tremendous local churches whose members have volunteered year after year to help the children and youth in a variety of ways. Eventually, our programs became more proficient and focused. First Succeeding by Reading, then Health4Kids, CareerBridge, and Path2Math. We learned the pivotal importance of providing foundational skills and personal confidence to vulnerable elementary school students and high school youth. Thus empowered, these students are given the chance they deserve to learn, grow, and succeed in elementary school, middle school, high school, and beyond.  

A generational impact on our community

All about empowering more children to rise above the substantial challenges they face

The rebranding initiative coincides with a recent four-year strategic plan, launched in October 2018. The plan was created to address the approximately 1,800 Oakland Unified School District second-graders who will complete this school year substantially deficient in foundational reading and math skills. Our goal is to train 1,000 tutors who can assist 2,000 students by 2022. 

As we embark on a new chapter, we will build on our strong foundation. In order to serve thousands more children, more quickly, we believe our name should clearly speak to our passion and mission of empowering vulnerable children and youth – the wonderful students we serve. By changing our name, we will be able to more rapidly and effectively generate interest about the children in the broader community. With more initial interest, we can better inform and inspire our community about our work,
AND how they can join us to nurture and equip vulnerable children to rise to their
God-given potential. 

Children Rising

We envision a community where EVERY struggling child is reached by a caring community at a critical time in their life to nurture hope, the courage to dream, and the opportunity to thrive.

We encourage you learn more about our programs, volunteer opportunities, and our bold four-year strategic plan. 

For the children,

Jim


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