Changing Children's Lives & Culture

Never underestimate the power or potential of a life laid down in sacrificial service for others. This statement is a driving motivator for those who volunteer their time and talents to mentor and or tutor a student!

 The PEARSON Foundation seeks to serve through a Collaborative Community Impact approach where we cultivate relations with community partners and stakeholders who share similar interests for positively impacting lives and institutions.

Our mentoring Program is recognized as a "Best Practice Model" in the State of Mississippi and has attracted the participation of local businesses that have excused employees from work early to allow them to serve as volunteers once a week for 90-120 minutes.

Because of the selfless service of many, we have been able to sustain our ministry impact in the lives of children, youth and parents through:

     In-school mentoring at Pearl High School, Jr. High and Upper Elementary. 

 Faith-based community mentoring in cooperation with the City of Pearl Youth Court 

 After-school tutoring/mentoring three days a week at three sites: PEARSON Foundation, Payton Garden Apartments,  and The Grand at Pearl Apartments  

 Mentoring for girls living in Payton Garden Apts. and Boys’ leadership retreats in cooperation with Camp Pioneer 

 Wisdom from the Book of Proverbs taught in every session 

 Summer Reading Institutes at three sites 

 Plans to establish a Good News Club at two sites in the Summer/Fall 2019/2020  

We want to reach or help Students in K-5 through 8th grade in the Pearl, Rankin County, and Metro Jackson school districts who are identified by the school systems as reading below grade level and or who have failed and are one or more grades behind. 

Priority will be given to students who live below the poverty level, in public/government housing, single-parent households, minorities: African-American, Hispanic/Latino American, and males.  

 It is vital that our students in the Greater Jackson Metro area are prepared and equipped to read with comprehension in order to achieve life-skill potential and success. Better educated, better equipped and better skilled students simply means better families, better schools, better workers and workplaces, better public servants, and a better and more culturally progressive Mississippi and United States. 

TALKS Mentoring-Leadership Program is a mentorship program that specifically targets young male students encouraging them to learn wisdom from older, mature adults, and eventually become peer mentors themselves.​​​​

 Faith-based Mentoring with the City of Pearl Youth Court is a partnershipwith Rankin County Juvenile Justice where we guide these troubled youth away from a life of crime and delinquency, helping them to become positive contributors to society, and even future community leaders. When we spot true leadership potential in our youth, we invest in their growth. 

Community Service Projects at PEARSON can be small or large, but we always involve our youth so they can learn that they have something to give and to emphasize the importance of serving others as a way to build godly character.  

Weekend Young Leaders' Retreats

hosted by PEARSON quarterly reinforces the belief that character and attitude are some of the keys for any young person to positively and productively function in our culture.Learning how to serve others is an important aspect of teaching maturity.

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Too many of the young teenagers in our targeted areas are already labeled "troubled" or

"delinquent." Our program is designed to integrate young people who are making wise choices with peers who can be positively impacted and influenced. The results are life and character changing! 

 When a boy doesn't have his Dad at home he can become directionless and discouraged in his teenage years and even into manhood.​​​​ Imparting practical life-skills such as what is involved in a "First Impression On A Job Interview" or simply how to tie a neck tie are some of the ways we partner with parents and students to build a confident course for life and career!

 Vanessa Jenkins-Stewart Learning Institute is named after a woman who spent much of her life invested in the youth in our area. To create the most effective program to extend her legacy we met with public school officials and asked them, "How can we best help our school kids?" The Learning Institute helps students K-12 improve their Reading, Math, Science and Civics skills after school August-May. 

 The Summer Learning Institute runs in June-July at several locations, and provides the books at a discount or at no-cost, and a reading program to ensure K-3 students are not left behind when they begin a new grade.  

 Abstinence Ministry:  Despite what contemporary thinkers purport, teaching youth to abstain from sexual relationships until marriage is a bedrock for creating healthier, happier and more stable adults.  Youth aged 10-19 and their parents in the city of Pearl and its surrounding area have experienced the negative consequences of sexual activity outside of marriage.  We believe this course will ultimately help reduce the teen pregnancy rate in the area, as well as the number of sexually transmitted diseases and related problems.