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MISSIONThe mission of the Old Stone Foundation in partnership with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District has been to improve the quality of life for moms and moms-to-be in Cuyahoga County who did not complete their high school careers by providing opportunities in education, family structure and job skills. Program NeedThe Old Stone Foundation for Education serves the young women of Cuyahoga County who are either pregnant or have children and have not completed high school. Case Western Reserve’s Poverty Center in 2005 reported that the potential for teen pregnancy is greater in Cleveland than in any other major city in the United States. The study reported that there were 70.19 births per 1,000 girls aged 15-19 in Cleveland compared to the nation’s average of 41.9. The report also pointed out that teen pregnancy is one of the many problems that stem from poverty. The issue of poverty in Cleveland is of enormous importance, as the city was named the nation’s number one big city in poverty as 41.9 percent of citizens and over 49 percent of its children living in poverty. The outcome of pregnancies in poor women and teenagers is a cycle of continued poverty. Of the state’s 2.8 million children, 18 percent are living in poverty - and that number continues to rise, especially in the Cleveland area. Giving birth as a teenager leads to a 50 percent reduction in the likelihood of high school completion. Federal officials estimate that nearly half of all welfare payments go to families that began with teenage mothers. The students of Old Stone Center for Education are 95 percent African-American and five percent Hispanic and Caucasian. In the 2006 PolicyBridge (a non-profit organization founded to research, analyze
and respond to public policy from an African-American perspective) report, “The
Rap on Culture” said:
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