Rho Gamma Gamma Inc., a 501(c)3 not-for profit organization runs, organizes, and operates the OMEGA Y.E.S. male youth mentoring program that serves the Chicagoland area and the Chicago Public Schools focusing on black male youths from the ages of 12 to 18 years old, or 6th grade through 12th grade students. This program focuses on the development of young men to teach them life skills, financial skills, mental health awareness and training, self-esteem building, etiquette, decorum, respect for humanity, social and economic awareness, social justice advocacy, STEM, FASFA workshop training, voting rights advocacy and voter registration importance, and assistance with post-secondary educational exposure and opportunities. In addition, we incorporate community service as a staple to ensure our young people know the value of giving to the community. The program runs in 15–25-week modules with a rite of passage ceremony at conclusion. 

The introduction to the program is specifically designed to address social injustice and the ways to combat such ills and the long history of advocates for change dealing with that topic. The program runs all year on multiple sites. We have expanded the program to not only our facility, but we have created partnerships with an additional high school: Hirsch High School which permanently operates as well. In addition, the program operates with an even younger audience at two elementary schools: Scott Joplin, and Drake. This funding will not only allow the program to grow in terms of expanding the mentee numbers but the overall expansion of activity exposure for each mentee. In addition, it is our goal to keep as many young men as possible from being introduced or revisiting the criminal justice system by providing this avenue of intervention through mentor engagement. Further, we aim to reduce the mental health issues that systematic trauma that each young male may face in their daily lives. Moreover, the program exposes them to numerous cultural, professional, and social experiences to help enrich and enhance each participant, like Thanksgiving Turkey giveaway, hot meals to seniors, and Christmas cards to seniors as well. We continue to foster working relationships with partners that can enhance our mentees such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and NASCAR Chicago. Both of which have provided great learning opportunities and exposure for our young men. 

We currently are serving 150 young men per year through the program. With your help in funding, we can increase that number potentially to 200 young men. That would be an increase of almost 35 percent in young men who would be able to participate in the program. That would be a tremendous accomplishment and impact on young people’s lives. Currently over thirteen thousand mentor hours have been donated in the mentoring program The long-term goal is to build better communities from developing the young men through the aforementioned that will one day become leaders within them, one young man at a time.