Caring For Children When No One Else Can

St Simon’s After-School is a program that helps those most in need - children from poor households who have no one at home to care for them after school.

There are many negative influences that work against these children - from the detrimental effects of watching television for hours upon hours to the possibility of other children and adults preying upon them. A report entitled "Beyond ABC: Growing up in Dallas County," and published by Children’s Medical Center Dallas and The Coalition for North Texas Children provides many of the statistics we quote here. Studies have shown that youngsters who are home alone after school on a regular basis are twice as likely as supervised children to abuse alcohol, tobacco and drugs. While there is a great need for after school care, for many families the costs are prohibitive.

St. Simon’s provides for a teacher at the student’s elementary school to care for the children, gives them a nutritious snack (usually a peanut butter sandwich), and provides homework assistance. This creates a safe caring environment where academic performance is valued and supported until the parents are able to gather up their children. Individual programs serve 20-25 children. In total, our 16 programs serve approximately 400 students.

Because the programs are housed at the elementary schools, and we employ certified teachers selected by the school’s principal, the administration of the program is very efficient and transparent - no transportation costs, no capital costs.

More than 94% of all monies are used for supplies for the children and to pay the salaries of the teachers, snacks and program supplies.

Who We Serve...

Among the 675,000 Dallas County students of amazing diversity 242,000 are poor enough to qualify for assisted lunch,

With welfare reform the number of children enrolled in Medicaid has fallen and the number of children receiving Food Stamps has dropped by 44%. Children's Medical Center of Dallas now reports many more children are going hungry or are not adequately nourished.

31.5% of children in Dallas County live in single parent households. A majority of these  have limited economic means and thin support systems.

Latch-key children in these circumstances score worse on measurements of health, education, emotional, and behavioral problems and are twice as likely to abuse alcohol, tobacco, and drugs