Is Youth Life right for my child?

Everything you need to know about our programming and how to get your child started

What do we do?

Youth Life Foundation of Richmond is not a daycare. It’s also not your average after-school program. We believe in offering tailor-made academic enrichment and character development for each individual child we serve. Learn more by clicking on the drop down menu.

We offer homework help each day after-school, but we also go much deeper. Each student is tested before starting program, and our teachers then create individual academic activities to target their areas of weakness. We have a special reading intervention program for students who are reading far below grade level. For students who are on grade level, we offer additional academic enrichment in areas they’re interested in. We make learning FUN and EFFECTIVE at our Learning Centers.
In addition to providing them with the academic support they need, we also want to encourage students to grow as leaders. Working alongside parents, we establish character goals for each student and give them daily responsibilities, reminders, and strategies for how to meet those goals.
We offer Bible lessons for students and engage with them often about questions about God and spirituality. We want our students to succeed in life, and that means more than just learning how to read or how to be “good.” A relationship with Jesus is what will truly equip them for everything they’ll encounter in life.

For all of this, we only charge a one-time $25 enrollment fee!

Am I eligible?

Our programs exist to provide services for families from under-resourced neighborhoods. Our application requires an estimated income and household size from the most recent tax year.

We also determine eligibility based on geographic location and school. The breakdown of our different centers and the areas/schools they draw from is below:

Northside Elementary Learning Center (3080 Meadowbridge Rd, Northside Outreach Center):
- Students must attend Barack Obama Elementary or Overby-Sheppard Elementary School, or live in Delmont Plaza Apartments, Delmont Village Apartments, Fieldcrest Townhomes, or Victory at Edgewood Townhomes
Northside Remix Middle/High School Centers (various locations)
- Remix is specifically for students who have graduated from our elementary programs. We are not currently accepting new students at these grade levels.

In order for our programming to be as effective as possible, we also require a level of commitment from parents and consistent attendance from students. If your child would only be able to attend two days out of the week or will need to leave at 4pm each day for extracurricular activities, our program may not be the best fit for them.

FAQs

We provide transportation for students from the schools to our centers. However, we do not provide transportation home at the end of the day (with the exception of Delmont students, who will be dropped off at 5:30pm by a Youth Life bus). Parents will need to pick up children from the Learning Center at 5:30pm each day.
Northside Learning Center: 3080 Meadowbridge Rd (inside the Northside Outreach Center building)
We require a completed application (which can be found below) to start the enrollment process, as well as a brief parent meeting and payment of $25 enrollment fee for new students.
We are also required by the Department of Social Services to have immunization records on file for each student. We will need to receive a copy of these for your child before they can begin program. Records can be faxed to (804) 447-8585.
We are not open on days when schools are closed. We follow the Richmond Public School schedule.
On half days, Youth Life does provide programming. We will pick up students from school at their early dismissal time and bring them to the center. Parent pickup at the center is still at 5:30pm.
In order to incentivize good character, hard work, and determination in our students, we have a “Behavior Points” system that culminates each week in a Friday field trip (a “Fun Friday”).
If students show poor behavior throughout the week and do not earn enough “Behavior Points,” they will not be allowed to participate in the Fun Friday trip that week. We can still provide childcare on those days, but the student will not be able to participate in the fun activity for the day.
Field trip schedules can be found on our monthly calendars here.