MOLO Village CDC

BACKGROUND:

MOLO Village CDC operates as a grassroots organization, dedicating its efforts to addressing the intricate challenges that face the Russell community in Louisville, Kentucky. The organization’s programs encompass five “hamlets,” or distinct areas of focus, each tailored to foster a community of healthy, involved and industrious individuals.

THE NEWS: 

Thanks to funding from the Humana Foundation, MOLO Village CDC launched a Be Your Own Leader Program (BYOL). The initiative engaged over 30 children with hands-on curriculum encompassing vital academic fields such as math, finance and even robotics.

WHY IT MATTERS:

• The grant from the Humana Foundation has effectively helped remove obstacles to educational tools and experiences, empowering students to partake in unique activities such as collaborating with STEM professors on robotics design. 

• The educational program also expanded to include a tutoring initiative in which high school students stepped in as mentors for the younger students. 

• Participants also had the opportunity to deepen their understanding of their African American heritage through various Pan African in-house sessions and a visit to an African History Museum.

IMPACT AREAS

The program addressed the Humana Foundation’s focus areas of creating healthy, emotional connections (underserved population) through community engagement and cultural programming for African American heritage, and connected, healthy lives (school-aged kids) by facilitating access to hands-on curriculum that would normally not be readily available to the students.

WHAT’S NEXT:

Following the substantial support and success of the 2021 program, MOLO Village surpassed its total participation rate for 2021 through pre-registrations alone for the 2022 course.