ORAL LEE BROWN FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Oral Lee Brown Foundation is to provide low-income, disadvantaged youth the tools to help them Break their Cycle of Poverty. This is done with the support of emotional, educational and financial resources such as mentoring, tutoring , wellness, and other services. Students use the tools and resources they need to gain a quality education in grades 1 through 12. Once they complete high school, students will make their dream of attending college a reality through the support of the foundation and become a tax paying citizen in their communities and the world.
About This Cause
In 1987 Mrs. Oral Lee Brown adopted the entire first grade class from Brookfield Elementary School in Oakland, CA a school located in one of the most poverty stricken and violence plagued areas of Oakland, CA. Most of these children are disadvantaged, low-income, at-risk youth. She was motivated by the fact that these children faced tremendous challenges each day just to survive through their childhood and young adult years. Her promise to these students was to pay for their college education if they graduated high school. She personally set aside $10,000.00 of her own money and continues to contribute that amount, or more, annually. In 1988, the Oral Lee Brown Foundation was established with a board of volunteers concerned about the future education of our children. The Foundation provides a broad range of personal and emotional support services to help our students overcome the many hurdles in their path. The Foundation continues working tirelessly to prepare, support, and fund Oakland’s students to finish high school, promising and delivering them a college education and a pathway to success. Working in partnership with the community, we provide Saturday School tutoring in the STEAM subjects, extensive mentoring, computer and coding training, wellness, home economics and college tuition. The first phase of students was the Brookfield Elementary School first grade class adopted in 1987. Statistically, 3 out of 4 students who start as freshmen at local high schools drop out, and of those who do graduate, just 1 in 3 have the grades eligible to enroll in a state university. Of the original group of twenty-three students, nineteen graduated from high school in 1999, and attended college. One became a victim of the violence this area is unfortunately known for when she was used as a human shield. She had been accepted into college and was very much looking forward to going away. The various other phases of students occurred as a result of parents hearing about the first phase and asking if their children could be helped. In the Spring and Fall of 2009, phase two students graduated from various colleges such as Morehouse, Xavier, Bethune Cookman, Southern University and U.C. San Diego. Phase three students entered college in 2009 and have also graduated from various colleges and universities throughout the U.S. Some of the graduates have returned to Oakland to live and work in their communities as productive, tax-paying citizens. Phase 4 students are currently attending Colleges and Universities, such as: Morehouse, NYU, Syracuse, Temple, Dillard, Mt. St. Mary’s, UC Merced (2), Paul Quinn University, S.F State, Sacramento State and Laney. 8 of these students are graduated in Spring and Fall, 2017. Phase 5 students are currently attending colleges of their choice in Berkeley, Los Angeles, Alabama and other places. Phase 6, 7 and 8 students are currently in high school, middle school and elementary school. They reside in the Oakland Bay Area. The foundation supports these students on a regular basis through monitoring, mentoring, tutoring and a host of other services.