Hello homeschool community, 

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Our nonprofit homeschool support organization has been chosen as one of Congressman Hank Johnson's earmark requests for FY23. I am reaching out concerning a request for a "Letter of Community Support."  DeKalb Christian Home Educators, Inc. (DCHE) supports home-educating families by sharing educational opportunities and financial resources that cultivate community by offering academic classes, extracurricular clubs, parent-teacher training, educational accessibility, and family-centric communities service and social events.

 

THE REQUEST

We are requesting a "Letter of Community Support" for DeKalb Christian Home Educators, Inc. by Friday, April 22, 2022. We are sorry for such a late notice, We received the wonderful news of our selection this Wednesday. The Office of Congressman Hank Johnson is requesting all information submitted ASAP.

 

WHY IS THIS COMMUNITY PROJECT VALUABLE TO TAXPAYERS?

The pandemic forced 9 million students home for remote education. According to the Census in 2019, 3.3 percent of Black families were home-schooling and now the population has grown to 18.8% as of Spring 2021. This population growth is a response to the limited academic resources of the public school system, teacher shortage, culturally insensitive curriculum, institutional racism, and implicit bias that marginalizes intellect. Many Black, Indigenous, & People of Color (BIPOC) parents desire to nurture their students' minds with a worldview that uses literature, STEM, history, and experiences to provide a positive and accurate image.  

 

The solution is a resource center that offers diverse social engagement, academic enrichment, supportive community, parents-as-teachers training, and even human services such as emotional support groups and food pantry services. With so many families new to home education and governmental systems stretched, a community-piloted nonprofit with the stakeholders in charge can alleviate community-specific educational issues.

 

ABOUT US:

Since 1989, DCHE has served over 500 homeschooling families from DeKalb, Rockdale, Fulton, Newton, Henry, and Gwinnett counties providing academic support. We share financial resources by partnering with the Home School Legal Defense Fund to provide needy families with home education grants (up to $650 per year) to purchase curriculum, school-related technology including hotspots and wifi, diagnostic testing & therapies for children with special learning needs or IEP / 504 accommodations. We facilitate educational opportunities by partnering with the Atlanta Science Festival, Georgia Tech, 4H Camp (Jekyll Island, GA), Camp Cedine Bible Camp (Spring City, TN), and more. Please visit our website for a complete list of events including science & history fairs, Scripps Spelling Bees, graduations, Field Day, field trips, and community service projects tailored for kids as young as 4 years old.

 

Throughout our over 30 years of service, we have maintained supportive community relationships with several ministries including HUgs and Hope Community Table (Snellville, GA), Parkwood Hills Baptist Church (Decatur, GA), Pine Lake Baptist Church (currently BluePrint Stone Mountain), Crossroads Presbyterian Church (Stone Mountain, GA), Park Place Baptist (Snellville, GA), One Heart Ministry (Conyers, GA), and Christ First Community Church (Stone Mountain, GA). The faith-based community has embraced DCHE through the in-kind donation of facility space for classes and social events. 

 

Our strength and longevity come from being a parent-led organization with ethical governance, community support, and hardworking volunteers. We feel that in the post-pandemic education climate, we could build the capacity to serve a growing home education community.

 

Thank you for your support and consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Nicole Doyle

Coordinator

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