Sunflower County & Rosedale & Meridian Freedom Project

FREEDOM PROJECT PROGRAMMING: Through afterschool programming, FPN Fellows explore past and present movements, express themselves through the arts, and build organizing efforts to gain racial, educational, and social equity in their communities. FPN staff lead students in academic, extracurricular, experiential learning, and youth empowerment programming, aimed at both empowering Fellows as students and as young people. Before the merger with the Freedom Project entities in August and September 2023, we achieved this program service by directly assisting Freedom Projects (one $45,000 grant, and one $15,000 grant to the Rosedale Freedom Project). After that merger, FPN achieved this program service through direct FPN expenditures.

EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL: During the Summer, Fall, and Spring semesters, staff at each site plan a trip for Fellows to travel for experiential learning. They travel to cities and places where pivotal moments of the Civil Rights Movement happened and tour different college campuses as part of college access programming. Our Fellows also engage in travel relevant to the ongoing work that they are doing, for example in art, or history, throughout the year.

ALUMNI COLLEGE SUCCESS PROGRAM: The Alumni College Success Program supports all Freedom Project alumni who matriculate into college by providing mentorship calls, academic coaching, mental health support, and monthly stipends. We have a part-time Program Director who oversees the administration of this program and part-time coordinators for each of our 3 Freedom Project sites who lead the student-facing program. This year we supported 22 Alumni fellows enrolled at colleges and universities across the country.

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE FELLOWSHIP: The Restorative Justice Fellowship moves our programming toward our broader goals of Fellows organizing to actualize their vision for change in their lives. RJF advances our community-building mission because restorative work focuses on building and repairing relationships. Fellows in the Freedom Project Network lead peace circles with each other to explore the causes of harm and create alternative solutions for addressing and handling conflict at their sites.

FPN PROGRAM SUPPORT: Professional development for staff members; site visits by leadership team of FP sites; data management & analysis; other program expenses.