Programs from the Front Porch
Home About Us Programs Donate Wish Lists Photo Gallery Front Porch Favorites: Resources for Parents	Who can participate? After School Summer Academic Advocacy On The Porch Reading Race Community Service Race Off The Porch (Field Trips)
	Who can participate? Youth age 7 and up who live within walking distance of the neighborhood on the Eastside of Detroit near Kelly Road, their friends or cousins who stay with them. Most kids who attend the program do so of their own choosing and are connected to the kids who are already in the program, but with parental permission. If you think your child might be interested and you live near us, please email frontporchdetroit@yahoo.com After School Help with homework. If children have no homework we provide library books, educational games and homework. Free time - games, Internet, arts, life skills. NOTE: The center we used to use is unavailable. The heating unit was stolen from the top of the building among other issues. For now, after school is on the Porch on nice days and when kids need help.  Summer Every year is different, depending on what the kids ask for and what opportunities are available. Summer 2009 included: Tennis with Coach Dre Crafts: Collage, Vase Decorating, and Backpack Making Science: Recycling, Learning About the Heart, How Airplanes Fly Reading with the Detroit Public Library – Winner of the Book Race was DW. The kids read a total of 2, 303 pages.  Swimming at Chandler Park Aquatic Center and swim lessons at Heilmann Recreation Center.  Bowling at the Garden Bowl downtown, taking the DDOT Fishing at the Spring Valley Trout Farm YouthDay on Belle Isle and the Detroit Public Library Healthy Lunches and Snacks Walking up to the recreation center and Chandler Park - about 2 miles there and 2 miles back. The walking winners were TD and JD sisters. Second Place were JC and JW sibling and third place was ES.   Teen community service winner: RW with 57 hours of summer community service. KJ, TH, LH, and QW also helped a lot! They made friendship bracelet kits for the kids at Children's Hospital. They did a total of 177 volunteer hours.  Triathlon at Stony Creek.  The kids learned about their heart as a muscle and aerobic activity from the American Heart Association and they used the new fitness trail at Heilmann to learn about different exercises to stay fit in a treasure hunt. The kids made collages about their future.  The kids had treasure hunts everyday walking to and from the rec center. Other contests were ended with a trip to the treasure chest full of prizes. All our lettuce for sandwiches came right from the garden near the porch. For the first time, the kids grew potatoes.  From the butterfly and bee garden near the porch the kids learned about monarchs, honey bees and bumble bees.   Academic Advocacy Individual youth sign up to get an academic advocate. They are visited once a week at school, their grades are monitored, and they are brought a nutritious and delicious lunch. Advocates are a bridge between school, after-school, and home. Basic needs assistance provided if needed (coats, school supplies etc.). On The Porch Informal activities provided on the street chosen by the kids. This could be anything from making sock monkeys, a game of speed or a water balloon fight. Reading Race Kids race to read the most pages by the end of summer in partner reading. They participate in the Detroit Public Library's Summer Reading Club. Teens help the younger kids read and get credit for community service in the community service race.  Community Service Race Kids race to provide the most community service hours and win a prize or trip. Mostly the kids help the other kids in the program.  Off The Porch (Field Trips) Places we’ve field tripped in the past 10 years and would recommend: Cranbrook Science Museum Detroit Science Center Dossin Museum Belle Isle African Heritage Cultural Center Detroit Institute of Arts Detroit Historical Museum Detroit Public Library The Henry Ford The Garden Bowl Campus Martius Skating Rink Clark Park Ice Rink Stony Creek Metropark Kensington Metropark Metrobeach Metropark Seven Ponds Nature Center The Octagon House U of M Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center Ann Arbor Hands On Museum U of M Natural History Museum Heilmann Recreation Center Young Recreation Center Del Ray Pier Fishing Day Gallup Park, Ann Arbor City of Detroit Balduck Park Chicago – Museum of Science and Industry, Aquarium, Waterfront Park Michigan State University – small animal day Michigan State University – the Bug House Rowe's Strawberry Farm Assorted Haunted Houses Assorted Corn Field Mazes Rouge Park Mountain Bike Trail Lakeside Park Mountain Bike Trail Detroit City Airport Young Eagles Grand Traverse Band Chippewa Youth Camp First Baptist Church – Underground Railroad Second Congregational Church – Underground Railroad Chandler Park Aquatic Center Rooted in Community in Florida Rooted in Community in San Francisco (with DAN) Noel Night Fort Wayne Universoul Circus Detroit Shock Matrix Theater Harvest Festival Pow Wow Red Oaks Water Park Benehana Mexicantown Detroit Agriculture Network Seed Planting Workshop Millennium Center for Community Theater To see one of our kids play basketball To see one of our kids play football CJ Barrymore’s PuppetArt Spring Valley Trout Farm
The Front Porch P.O. Box 24744 Detroit, Michigan 48224 USA  frontporchdetroit@yahoo.com This website made possible by the Youth Development Commission and designed on open source software from Kompzer. This work by The Front Porch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.