FOR A ST. MARK FAMILY THIS WINTER
St. Mark Youth Enrichment
Learning today, leading tomorrow.
St. Mark Youth Enrichment provides healthy and enriching after school and summer programs.
For 30 years, we have created engaging environments for children in the Dubuque area.
Partnering with Audubon, Lincoln and Marshall Elementary Schools,
as well as Peosta Elementary
Recent Updates
- August 2, 2024
. . . working parents have enough to worry about—school supplies shouldn’t be one of them.
- February 12, 2024
A Message from Our Executive Director: We’re selling our building, but our work is just starting.
St. Mark Youth Enrichment is and will always be much more than these buildings on the corner of 12th and Locust St. Our mission is bigger than this space, so this organization is proceeding with the difficult choice to sell our original buildings. This decision will allow our mission to continue to grow in bigger ways and better serve the children and families of this amazing community. As a cherished member of our St. Mark family, we want you to hear this news from us first. This team and this organization owe so much to the former members of St. Mark Lutheran Church, who also made a difficult decision in the late 80s to disband their congregation, sell nearly all of their beloved stained glass windows, and use that seed money to grow the roots of what would become St. Mark Youth Enrichment. More than 30 years later, that unimaginably difficult decision has long outgrown these walls to now annually impact the lives of hundreds of young people in our school year and summer programs and over 3,000 youth through our community outreach efforts like Apples for Students, which provides new supplies for kids at nearly every school in our immediate area. Like those amazing congregation members before us, we are again making the right choice to sell something important to all of us so that we can continue to grow and provide more opportunities for our community’s kids. This includes expanding our existing after-school & summer programs as well as starting an early childhood center that will provide a space for children from birth to age five. This next big step means we can direct more resources towards helping our kids and less towards holding on to this historic building. We can use more resources towards a future St. Mark that embraces our founding principles to help our children see and realize all of their potential. This building is beautiful, but it comes with all the costs associated with maintaining a historic church building. Every dollar we continue to spend holding on to these walls is another dollar we could use to help more kids. Every dollar spent on this space is another we could use to open more opportunities for working families who desperately need a reliable option for their kids after school and during the summer. Every dollar we spend on repairs, maintenance, heating, and more is another dollar we can use to create spaces that embrace nature and allow kids to feel grass beneath their tiny toes. The journey ahead will not be immediate, but our existing afterschool & summer programs will continue in their current locations for the time being thanks to partnerships with the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Dubuque, St. John’s Episcopal Church, the Western Dubuque School District, & others. As we move forward with selling our original buildings (now used only for administration), we will expand new partnerships with Sedona Staffing, which will serve as a base for our admin staff, and Area Residential Care, which will house our pilot early childhood center. Our work is just starting as we continue planning for our future space. Along the way, we will still rely on support from incredible people like you. Thank you for supporting our kids and providing love, safety, belonging, and learning to the kids and families of the Greater Dubuque area. With Gratitude, Dawn Cogan, Executive Director P.S. If you want to learn more about the journey ahead or our next steps into early childhood, please fill out the form on this page www.stmarkyouthenrichment.org/build. Thanks!
BE A VIRTUAL GUEST READER
Do you have a story, talent, or activity to share? Send us a message to jaguilar@stmarkyouthenrichment.
Hi friends, it's Beth here from St Mark, and It's really eerie. It's really quiet. It makes me think of what, what could come in the summer, right?
We know that today our kids are being well taken care of. Taken care of by moms and dads who are working and being teachers. The school district and so many beautiful partners are feeding our kids beautifully. I've seen some of those meals (absolutely gorgeous) and we at St. Mark are really working hard to make sure that they're taken care of.
Here at St. Mark we are working on social-emotional packs to send out to our families and give them the opportunity to work on some of those things that are really the big questions for kids. You know, they have big feelings and this is nerve-wracking for them. They don't know. They've lost their school families. They've lost their best friends.
And some of them don't have the technology to be able to FaceTime their best friend, to shoot hoops with their best friend. And when we get to see them—when they come back to us, we're going to have to do a lot of work. And we're going to have to do some retraining. We're going to have to do some re-socialization. We’re going to need to be there to work through big questions like, “how do you be a good friend today, and how do you take care of yourself and work through your emotions?”
There's also going to be a huge educational lag. We know that. We know that kids were already struggling with summer slack. Let’s think about these kids. There's a potential that from March until August—no school. And here at St. Mark with our summer program, we're going to be able to tackle some of those issues and get kids as ready as we can for that first day of school and giving them opportunities.
I know that you as a member of this St. Mark family have been such beautiful supporters of us, and these kids need to know that that's going to continue.
We're going to have such a big need in the coming days. With the uncertainty of what could happen today or tomorrow, there are going to be more families than we thought who will need summer scholarships this year. We were planning for 100, and we know that this number will be drastically higher. Parents have been laid off, hours drastically cut. They need to know they’ll be taken care of.
Our staff is preparing to work with kids in trauma, because we know that this isolation is traumatic for kids. We're hoping that you support us and trust us to take care of these amazing, amazing youngsters and give them the opportunity to be in this safe space. They need your help to do that more than ever. You are their community. You’re their safety. You're their safe spot.
Our donors who have really been there for us are you. People like you have been making this happen for 30 years. And we want to make sure that we get the chance to take care of these kids this summer. Know very well that we are being beautiful stewards of your donations—taking care of our kids. We are prepared as an administrative team to come in and take care of these kids if and when we go back to school as well as taking care of them during the summer as much as we can.
This is, this is what we gear up for. This is what's in our hearts. I know that you are behind us in this, and I just need you to know that we're going to need you, they’re going to need you.
I know it's so much to ask right now, but please support these kids by clicking below or giving me a call at 563-590-2806 today and giving your best gift.
https://stmarkyouthenrichment.org/give-now/
Please help us be prepared for what’s to come and to be here this summer, to take care of these kids and prepare them for the first day of school. Have a beautiful day.
With love and big air hugs,
Beth
P.S. If you or someone you care for is struggling right now or just needs someone to talk to, please don't hesitate to reach out for support, friendship, or a listening ear. We're all apart together. You can reach me at 563-590-2806 or bmcgorry@stmarkyouthenrichment.
The mission of St. Mark Youth Enrichment is to provide innovative programs and services that cultivate the educational and social-emotional growth of youth and families.
Our vision is to enrich the life of every child.