Ohana of Howard County, Inc.

Ohana of Howard County, Inc. (OhahaHC) is a new nonprofit in Howard County, Maryland that mentors 9th graders at the 25th academic percentile and follows them for ten years. OhanaHC (www.ohanahc.org) is modeled on the amazing work of Thread (www.thread.org) in Baltimore. A diverse group of four or five community members (an Ohana) work together to build trust with a student, then mentor them. We are launching the pilot at Wilde Lake High School this August 2020 with ten 9th graders and 44 volunteers. Our goal for August 2021 is to expand into three other high schools and back to WLHS with eight teens at each school and 140 volunteers. Our mission is two fold - mentor teens and young adults for 10 years and reduce isolation in our community by having very different people work together on a common goal in our community. For more information, go to www.ohanahc.org.