Author: The Boston Globe
About a decade ago, Ahlers founded The Empowerment Factory, a nonprofit in Pawtucket that focuses on providing art and literacy enrichment programming to low-income families in Rhode Island.Q: What is The Empowerment Factory, and how has it evolved since you founded the nonprofit in 2014?A: Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls house two-thirds of the children that live in poverty in the state.I founded The Empowerment Factory to focus on lifting up children through literacy and art.We continue to serve children from the urban core who have the highest need, but have also introduced our programs across the state.When we started, we were really just an idea, and were mostly doing after-school programs.It has evolved into this community of people who’ve come together, to help kids in school and after school, in special events, and with online programs.Get Rhode MapA weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State.And we’re growing: In 10 years, we’ve served 7,000 children. But during this summer alone, we served 1,000 children.What are some of your main programs?A: Each of our programs blend social and emotional learning, literacy, and creativity together.The “Creative Squad” is a literacy-based workshop series that helps establish a foundation for developing social and emotional skills.The program works students and teachers through vocabulary, games, and art projects that are meant to help build positive self-awareness, communication skills, and meaningful relationships.[These are open to grades 1 through 8, and are usually eight- to 10-week after-school programs]“Art in the Park” is for children and their families to be in nature for relaxing mindfulness exercises, group reading and discussions, and it has an art project component.It’s an opportunity for families to learn how to model good behavior together. The “Nature Drawing” program is a seven-week online program that serves multilingual learners with our bilingual workbooks and teaches children about drawing techniques and environmentalism.Our “Trash to Treasures” program focuses on teaching kids about ways to reduce waste, and how making good choices helps them and our plant by making artwork with recycled materials.This is a program where we’re really teaching kids about recycling and repurposing.For example, the landfill in Rhode Island will be full in 2034.The Pacific Ocean garbage patch is more than 250 times the size of Rhode Island.And then we make them understand how their own everyday choices — like turning off the lights, recycling, using less water — can make a difference.How is The Empowerment Factory funded?A: We’ve received some grants through the Rhode Island Department of Education, some of the public school systems we work with, and we just secured our first grant through the U.S. Department of Education through a Congressional earmark.What are the biggest challenges The Empowerment Factory faces each year?A: Funding.The money is inconsistent.We’ve always going after grants because you can’t always count on whether you’re going to get the same funding that you received from the year before.At the same time, we’re partnering with schools that have very limited budgets.We constantly have to be incredibly nimble and thrifty to meet the high needs of the children.Like every nonprofit, especially one that deals with kids, the funding troubles also make it difficult to maintain staffing. You can’t pay them what they are really worth.Why can’t schools teach the same kinds of programs that you’re bringing to kids?A: In 2017, the Rhode Island Department of Education said social-emotional learning was “a priority.” But what does that mean?In reality, it’s only a priority if the people who are making the schedules for the teachers are giving the teachers time blocks to address those kinds issues.It’s a really difficult thing for schools because they’ve got a lot of things they are required to do.The people in charge of the schools are always changing over, which makes it difficult to manage and build partnerships over time, and show them why these programs really do matter and create change.How did COVID impact the way you think about kids and social-emotional learning?A: Creativity, self-esteem, and civic pride are three main things we instill in the kids.Always, but especially since COVID, children need to learn how to work together collaboratively, and understand theirs and others’ feelings.If you can instill that feeling of self-confidence in a child, it usually means they are less likely to drop out of school. But when do you have time to build them up to dream if you’re always teaching to a test?Alexa Gagosz can be reached at [email protected] her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.
