Mentors Matter
TSIC of Citrus County
Take Stock in Children was established in the State of Florida in 1995 as a non-profit organization in Florida that provides a unique opportunity for deserving low-income youth/students, many from minority families, to escape the cycle of poverty through education. We offer our students college scholarships, caring volunteer mentors and hope for a better life. Our comprehensive services start in middle school, continue through high school and include their transition into college.
Our program is based on the principal that given extensive support, motivation and accountability, children will work hard to ensure that they graduate from high school and attain a college degree. We fund our college scholarships and student services through a unique public-private fund raising model, and our mentors generously volunteer their mentoring services to our children.
Take Stock in Children’s multi-year commitment to at-risk children throughout our state is also an investment in the communities in which our students live. We know that the education of a child is an investment in their future and the assured way of breaking the cycle of poverty. Our goal is to continue to reduce the number of high school drop-outs and to increase the number of students who finish college and enter the workforce successfully.
Since our inception in 1995, Take Stock in Children has demonstrated its success and sustainability by delivering life changing results for our students.
Statewide Highlights of our program:
• Take Stock in Children has served over 22,000 children throughout 67 counties in Florida
• Take Stock in Children has over $130 million in Florida Prepaid Foundation scholarship
assets
• Take Stock in Children has generated over 1,000,000 mentor volunteer hours and
currently has over 7,500 mentors
• Take Stock in Children’s current student population consists of over 65% of minority
children
• Take Stock in Children is funded from both the private and public sector
Please join us as a mentor, volunteer or donate to Take Stock in Children. Your commitment and support will pave the way to better lives for deserving children in our community.
For further information, please contact the state organization at the link below:
http://www.takestockinchildren.org
The Take Stock in Children in Citrus County participates in the statewide program that supports the education of deserving middle and high school students in Florida. Take Stock in Children of Citrus County was also established in 1995 with the same purpose as our state organization. As a non-profit organization in Citrus County we currently has forty-one students enrolled in our local program. We offer our students college scholarships, caring volunteer mentors and hope for a better life. Our comprehensive services start in middle school, continue through high school and include the student's transition into college.
For further information about our local program, please contact us at:
plancaster@takestockstaff.com
Take Stock in Children of Citrus County is sponsored by the Citrus County Sheriffs Office
sheriffcitrus.org
Program Management:
Program Sponsor - Sheriff Jeff Dawsy
Executive Director - Captain David DeCarlo
Program Coordinator- Pat Lancaster
Locations:
Citrus County Sheriffs Office
1 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive
Inverness, Florida, 34450
Program Office
9360 E. Windwood Loop
Inverness, Florida 34450
(352) 344-0855
“TAG, YOU’RE IT!”
WITH TAKE STOCK IN CHILDREN
Support Education....When Renewing Florida Vehicle Registration
Make a donation to Take Stock in Children of Citrus County !
WELCOME to TAKE STOCK in CHILDREN of CITRUS COUNTY
P.O. Box 2043
Inverness, FL 34451
Celebrating over 25 years of scholarships, mentors & hope
INTERESTED IN ATTENDING COLLEGE or VOCATIONAL SCHOOL?
NOW ACCEPTING SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS from QUALIFYING STUDENTS in the 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th GRADE ATTENDING
CITRUS COUNTY'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
CALL the TAKE STOCK OFFICE at 344-0855 for MORE INFORMATION!
OUR PROGRAM
OUR MISSION
Take Stock in Children, Inc. is a nonprofit organization, transforming Florida one student at a time.
Working in every county throughout Florida, our mission is to break the cycle of poverty for low-income, academically qualified students by providing opportunities for a post-secondary education.
We offer college scholarships to students, provide caring volunteer mentors, and instill hope for a better life.
Our comprehensive services begin in middle school, continue through high school, and include students' transition into college and career.
Reflecting on the Past, Focused on the Future
Take Stock in Children was founded in the early 1990s to combat a troubling and persistent dropout rate that plagued the public school system in Tampa.
Created by a local education foundation with the backing of concerned community leaders, the initiative sought to give high-potential, low-income students the resources they needed to graduate from high school, go to college, and "set their course of life," says Don Pemberton, Take Stock in Children's founder. "We were looking to be transformative."
From the outset, the program was elegantly simple. It recruited participants in middle school, early enough in their lives to make a difference; it provided scholars with adult mentors; and the program carefully monitored students' progress. Take Stock in Children emphasized responsibility and accountability among students, their parents and mentors.
The program was inclusive and intensely local, bringing together not only students and school personnel, but outside volunteers, philanthropists, religious groups, civic organizations, the social-services sector and for-profit businesses. The idea was to "engage all facets of the community," Pemberton says. It succeeded.
In 1995, the Tampa program served 500 students, and businesses took notice, recognizing Take Stock's potential as a tool for building a more educated workforce.
Among other firms, Florida's largest bank urged the program to expand. Within a year, Take Stock in Children had autonomous affiliate programs - franchises essentially - in every Florida county. The simplicity and flexibility of the program and its emphasis on local control helped it to thrive in diverse environments. Nearly two decades since Take Stock in Children became a statewide program, it has served more than 24,000 low-income, at-risk children.
