Thread’s approach, from the students we engage to the depth, breadth, and duration of the support we provide, is unprecedented. By creating a new social fabric, where relationships are woven strong among students, volunteers and collaborators, Thread fundamentally alters how we define “family” and cultivates communities that transcend barriers, creating a future where everyone thrives.
The Thread Community Model
Students
Thread currently enrolls students at seven Baltimore City high schools:
- Academy for College and Career Exploration (ACCE)
- Digital Harbor High School
- George Washington Carver Technical Vocational High School
- Frederick Douglass High School
- Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School (Mervo)
- Patterson High School
- Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Volunteers
Our volunteer base represents the depth and breadth of our city and includes retirees, business owners, Baltimore newbies, Baltimore natives, college and grad students, parishioners–you’ll find them all at Thread. Thread volunteers are a diverse group of kind, open-minded individuals who value positive relationships and want to make a real difference in the lives of young people and the city of Baltimore. Our volunteers work directly with Thread young people or provide support to the organization.
Threads
To provide students and volunteers with even greater support – and to facilitate even more meaningful relationships among our community members, eight individual Thread Families (including students from the same cohort and their Families) are woven together into an extended family of support called threads. Threads facilitate peer-to-peer support among students and volunteers and are managed by an experienced volunteer GrandParent (GP) who mentors the HOFs and facilitates the sharing of resources and practices among Thread Families.
Collaborators
Thread collaborators are members of the larger community who provide pro bono services, resources, expertise, and opportunities not only to students, but also to volunteers and the organization.
High School Sites
Thread currently enrolls students from and offers after-school programming at six site schools in Baltimore City: Academy for College and Career Exploration (ACCE), George Washington Carver Technical Vocational High School, Digital Harbor High School, Frederick Douglass High School, Mergenthaler High School (Mervo), Patterson High School, and Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. Because Thread sticks with every young person for ten years, no matter what, we support students enrolled in an additional 20+ partner schools throughout the city, surrounding counties, and even out-of-state.
