Who We Are

Rebecca Yenawine is a 32 year old Baltimore, Maryland visual artist, who bought a house in a low-income section of the city riddled with drug trade. When she caught teenage girls spray painting graffiti nearby, she did not report them to the police. Instead, she brought them into her home and gave an art lesson. They were hooked, and so was she.

She has since held free classes for inner city kids offering them constructive and personally satisfying after school activities. With others from the Reservoir Hill neighborhood, Rebecca started a tax exempt, non-profit organization called "Kids on the Hill" to provide a safe haven and engaging program for these young people after school and a resource for them, their families, and for the Reservoir Hill community. (As indicated by recent studies, making sure that teen-agers have fulfilling and structured ways to spend leisure time -- with adult supervision -- is one of the keys to mitigating certain risk factors for teen-agers. Another of the keys is helping at risk young people achieve success in school. Kids on the Hill helps to encourage more positive life outcomes for the children of Reservoir Hill in both ways and by building their self-esteem and sense of connectedness.)

Kids on the Hill started out as an after school program with a small staff serving young people ages 7-18 in the Reservoir Hill area. "Our mission is to build relationships with Reservoir Hill young people and families and provide a dynamic curriculum of academics and arts that lays the foundation for enabling young people to be leaders and to pursue their goals and dreams," said Rebecca.
The program of Kids on the Hill now consists of four parts: arts classes, tutoring, mentoring, and summer camp.  A family support program has temporarily been put on hold pending completion of staffing adjustments.

Arts classes: "A wide variety of classes [in photography, drawing, theater, clay, etc.] are offered each semester to increase self confidence, beautify the neighborhood through public art projects and increase awareness of the experience of inner city young people."

Tutoring: "The tutoring program assists young people in increasing their academic success. . .Kids on the Hill staff also keep in touch with schools and teachers so we can best understand the needs of each child and recruit adult volunteers to help young people [address] their weaknesses."

Mentoring: "Adult volunteers spend [at least] one hour a week with a young person . . . to allow [that] person to take the lead and to practice thinking for his or herself. This builds leadership and prepares young people for taking on leadership in their lives."

Family support: "For parents and guardians [Kids on the Hill] offers art classes and assistance in going after educational and career goals, [including] weekly parent meetings, and home visits . . ."

Summer camp: "During the summer, Kids on the Hill provides a summer camp including arts and academic programs, tutoring, mentoring, and other enrichment activities for children who otherwise could not afford summer camp."

Kids on the Hill's next major goal: to form a charter school to help neighborhood teenagers deal more effectively with peer pressures, decreasing parental supervision, and the neighborhood's active drug trade. Named "School on the Hill" this vision for the future promises to help "keep teens in school and provide the foundation for young people to . . . pursue their goals and dreams."
As a result of her commitment, Rebecca has been named a winner of a Tom's of Maine "e-chievement" award on E-town Radio for "remarkable individuals who are working hard to make a positive difference in their communities and beyond." In addition, Rebecca has been awarded a Soros Open Society fellowship, honored for her arts activism by the Jewish Women's Archive, and featured in a Baltimore City Paper article about collaborative public art projects in that city.
First SVCF Grant: On April 8, 2001, The Social Venture Capital Foundation awarded its first grant -- an enterprise planning seed grant -- to Kids on the Hill. The purpose of the grant is to explore how Kids on the Hill could design a systematic effort to market and sell the products of the art program. The goals of the enterprise plan would be threefold: (1) to help make the organization more financially self-sustaining, (2) to recognize the young people who produce these works, and (3) to teach them the skills of entrepreneurship and management.

Second SVCF Grant: On December 13, 2001, SVCF awarded a second grant to Kids on the Hill -- an Enterprise Development Grant of $7,000. The grant recognizes Kids on the Hill's success in developing a preliminary Mission-Related Enterprise Plan and in developing its first product for sale -- an excellent t-shirt with the theme "Change the Face of History" -- and successfully test marketing that product. The purpose of this grant is to implement and refine the plan, develop additional products, and further the preparation of the entrepreneurship curriculum for the children and youth of Reservoir Hill. In addition, the SVCF grant to Kids on the Hill, includes a laptop computer to further support the organization's technological capacity to implement the plan.
Third, SVCF Grant: On January 31, 2002, SVCF awarded a third grant ($2500 grant and $2500 loan) to enable Kids on the Hill to establish an e-commerce web site to promote the program and sell the products developed by Kids on the Hill. This was a key part of the entrepreneurial strategy identified by Kids on the Hill in the mission-related enterprise planning work supported by previous SVCF grants and management counsel.
Fourth and Fifth SVCF Grant: The next two grants won by Kids on the Hill were for excellence in execution. The fourth for the award winning web site produced by the group, and the fifth for a prize winning film, "Children of Birmingham," that the kids designed, narrated, and produced.

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