We were recognized by the Journal Record as one of five Programs Making a Difference in 2020!
Whole Crew @ OKC Riversport
White Water Rafting Fun!
Mission Statement
To prepare girls and boys for adult life by providing fun and educational activities that teach life and social skills, good decision-making and otherwise broaden their horizons to empower them to be thoughtful and productive youth citizens.
WELCOME
to the REACH FORWARD FOUNDATION
We are a 501(c)3 Mentorship Program for 6th-12th grade young ladies and gentlemen.
UPCOMING EVENTS
July
No Hangout-Enjoy friends and family!
August
2022-2023 Program Kick-Off
Exact Date TBD
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NEW MEMBERS ALWAYS WELCOME
Sign-up here!
We Have Many
Needs to Expand
Our Program.
Inquire here.
CONNECT
WITH US:
Check out our 2021 OKC Martin Luther King Virtual Parade Entry
NEWS UPDATES
June 11 2022--- We capped off our mentorship year with 4 hours of adventure at OKC Riversport. Most of our mentees, as well as myself, had never participated in water sports, beyond swimming. Therefore white water rafting, water tubing and the surfing simulation gave us all great exposure to new activities beyond our comfort zone which is a great life lesson. See pics in the Photo Gallery.
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May 21 2022---Our "Let Me See You Work" Hangout was a success! Thank you you to Melrose Community Center for hosting us for our Interview & Job Skills-focused Hangout. Mentees who are currently employed shared their interview and work experiences with the group. We had 2 special guests, Target's Regional Vice President of Human Resources Jessica Thompson spoke to our mentees about interviewing for entry-level jobs and how to meet or exceed expectations to keep your first job. One of our 17 year old mentees was moved to apply for a job at Target the same day. We also heard from Langston University Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Ruth Jackson on how higher education prepares you for the workforce. Reach Forward Director shared her experience with video interviews and as a remote employee, provided examples of professional vs. unprofessional dress and had the mentees journal about their own personality traits, strengths, their desired work environment and careers of interest. See pics in the Photo Gallery.
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April 16 2022---We were rained out, but had a little time to provide Mental Health tips.
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March 2022---SPRING BREAK-No Hangout
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Feb 12 2022---The Oklahoma History Center is a beautiful building standing right across from the Governor's Mansion, full of rich Oklahoma History, including the stories of prominent African-Americans and the mark they have left on the state, the often untold stories of the legacy of Native Americans who once claimed all of Oklahoma and more. Yet many young people (and their parents) live here their entire lives and never visit the history center. For this reason, it is an annual tradition to visit the OK History Center during Black History Month each year and have our mentees team up to execute a scavenger hung through the Kerr-McGee Gallery, home of the Black History Exhibits, to learn important local history and to encourage a bit of friendly competition. Today did not disappoint with another victory for our top "History Detectives." Stay tuned for photos.
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Jan 17 2022---Today we celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr by participating in the 41st Annual OKC Martin Luther King Coalition Holiday Parade. This is an honored tradition for us to march in the parade each yea. Even before Reach Forward Foundation existed in an official capacity, we marched in the parade with our boys group, All Brothers Allowed. Today we proudly showed up once again donning new Reach Forward logo'd hoodies and behind our official Reach Forward Foundation, Sisters With Purpose and All Brothers Allowed Banner. Stay tuned for photos.
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Dec 11 2021---Holiday Party Time! We enjoyed food, games and a very entertaining white elephant gift exchange. A very special thank you goes out to Robert Greenlaw and Kimray for allowing us to use their Kimmell Conference Center to host our annual celebration. Check out some fun pics here!
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Nov 20 2021--- Thanks to our generous sponsor, Jim Hagemann, we were able to treat our mentees and their parents to a private showing (Quail Springs Movie Theatre) of "King Richard," a biopic sharing the lives of World-Renowned tennis stars and sisters, Venus and Serena Williams. After the movie, we had a discussion about why, like Richard Williams, parents will often push you when they see greatness to get the best out of you. We also highlighted how Venus and Serena made the most of every opportunity afforded them to build their skills and accelerate their careers.
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Oct 23 2021---Our regular Hangout was filled with many of our new members which was awesome! Through Google, skits and group share, we gave our teens a crash course on real-world skills like doing your own laundry, making a doctor's appointment, opening a checking account, executing that first job interview and more through a fun interactive activity called Growing Up Doesn't Have to be Scary.
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Oct 19 2021---10 of our high schoolers got a taste of college life at the Oklahoma State University main campus in Stillwater. We began with an Admissions Presentation and then had an extensive campus tour that included visiting the Student Union Bldg (the largest in the nation), the Education Bldg and even an exclusive visit inside of 2 campus dorms. We wrapped our day with delicious food in the Student Union (Chick-Fil-A as well as Int'l food)--See photos in the gallery above.
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Sept 2021---We had a wonderful field trip to Tulsa where we visited the Tulsa Race Massacre Memorial Park, Historic Vernon AME Church, walked down Greenwood to visit the Greenwood Rising Museum, ate at Fat Guys and then headed to The Gathering Place, Tulsa's Riverfront Park, to let off a bit of steam in nature. Check out the pics here.
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August 2021---We had a great Back to School Kick-off with 3 new families in attendance who joined over the summer while we took a break. We enjoyed lunch, an ice breaker activity to help us get to know one another and then a presentation of our tentative Hangout schedule for the year. THANK YOU MELROSE COMMUNITY CENTER FOR PARTNERING WITH US AND PROVIDING NEW MEETING SPACE.
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June 2021---One June 19tth, our 3rd Annual Ties to the Future Young Men's Networking event was a huge success with our greatest turnout yet. 50+ young men and about 20 Community Mentors. Check out the highlights here.
One week later, we headed on our annual Summer Trip. The Route 66 Adventure was a ton of fun. Our mentees learned a bit of Oklahoma history all while enjoying barbecue, the POPS experience and fun in the sun at Arcadia Lake along the famous Route 66. Check out the highlights here.
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April 2021--- Our boys basketball teams participated in their first tournament taking Championship and 3rd Place honors respectively! Congrats boys and coaches.
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Easter Weekend---Members of All Brothers Allowed and Sisters With Purpose engaged in a real-life civics lesson as they helped OKCPS School Board Member, Charles Henry, campaign for School Board Chair by distributing fliers to strategic residences across multiple neighborhoods over a 5-day period, some even working on Easter Sunday. This was not a political statement, but a means of teaching our youth to be civic-minded. We are grateful for the opportunity. Check out some pics here.
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March 2021---We added 14U and 15U AAU basketball teams (OK Team TakeOver) as a means of rebuilding our boys program. Coach Montgomery took members of both teams and some of our Sisters With Purpose members on an impromptu trip to Black Wall Street in Tulsa over Spring Break. What a great way for them to learn about the legacy of wealth-building within the Black Community, right here in Oklahoma that influenced communities across the nation.
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1.30.21---ACT PREP CLASS CANCELLED DUE TO LOW REGISTRATION--We will bring it back next year.
1.20.21---Reach Forward would not let COVID-19 defeat us. We continued our tradition of participating in the Oklahoma City Martin Luther King Jr Parade by submitting a virtual "float" entry. See us in the parade here.
12.20.20---In the age of COVID-19, we had to spread holiday cheer a bit differently! We hosted a social distancing friendly holiday celebration that included a Reach & Grab gift table and holiday treats provided to our mentees courtesy of McKenzie Ministries, pizza and a holiday photo opp for family and friend groups in attendance.
9.19.20---Fun was had by all at the September Hangout at the beautiful new Scissortail Park in Downtown OKC! Things kicked off with lunch (courtesy of McKenzie Ministries), followed by a Scavenger Hunt for a cash prize, setting the stage for a lesson on Savings where each mentee received their own "money jar" to begin their savings journey and we wrapped things up with each one writing down their first savings goal. Check out photo and video highlights here.
8.25.20---Reach Forward Foundation is announced as a Journal Record 2020 Programs Making a Difference Honoree!
8.15.20---After months of quarantine, he had a wildly fun Family Fun Hangout out in Jones, OK. We were able to have safe, socially-distanced fun fishing, sack-racing, having tug-of-war battles and of course eating good old barbecue. See the photos above.
June 2020---We congratulate our 2020 High School graduates---Sylvia Howard and Khiry Montgomery!
2.1.20---ACT PREP WITH MASTER THE TEST---We had a soldout group of 50+ students learning strategies to build up confidence and improve their scores on the ACT, facilitated by the ACT Prep Experts of Master the Test. Thanks to our partnership, we were able to offer this 4-hour crash course at a fraction of the usual cost to families. Check out the highlights of this ACT Prep day here!
January 2020---We had double the fun this month! We enjoyed our regular Hangout on January 18th with "Real Talk" to help our young people navigate communication, social media, friendships, dates and other matters important to them. Then just 2 days later, we helped honor the Life & Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr at the 40th Annual Oklahoma City Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Parade & Celebration. This was the largest turnout for parade participants in the 40 year history of this event. We marched in the parade handing out candy with info about Reach Forward, some rode in some very cool club cars and a hand-selected group of our young men served as suit models for GQ Fashions...Fun was had by all as we honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King for whom we can thank for many of the freedoms we enjoy today! Check out pics here!
12.14.19---We love the holiday season at Reach Forward! We sponsored a family in need AND had a great holiday celebration including gift exchange for our final Hangout of 2019!
11.16.19---20 amazing young people and 7 of our parents served men, women and children in need at City Rescue Mission. November is our give back month so this is our 2nd year in a row to serve at City Rescue Mission, the largest homeless shelter in OKC. This is a favorite activity for our mentees and families. See photos in the slideshow above and video of Exec Dir Wyjuana Montgomery sharing words of wisdom here.
09.21.19---New Family Orientation
We had a wonderful time with food and laughter as we reflected on all our adventures and what we accomplished last year. We also welcomed a wonderful new mentee and her family, Miss Elise! We are looking forward to continuing the work to come alongside parents/guardians to teach life skills, good decision-making and social skills to help form productive youth citizens!
08.24.19---The 6th Annual NO FEAR Ladies Conference benefiting Reach Forward Foundation was a great success once again. Several young ladies from Reach Forward were in attendance and 2 of them served as co-emcees. Stay tuned for the announcement of our fundraising total! Check out event photos here!
We are fiscally responsible. Check out our 2021 Annual Report here.
OUR STORIES
Khiry
I am a member of the Quarantined Class of 2020! Now that I have wrapped up high school with Honors, I'm headed to pursue a degree in Robotic Engineering while playing basketball at Loras College in Dubuque, IA---Go Duhawks!
Khiry
Tavia &
Malina
Employability---We both work at Braum's learning valuable entry-level skills.
Cortez
Class of 2021
College & Career Support: Reach Forward helped me explore my higher education options and how to get funding for it. I just graduated with honors in my concurrent enroment program @ Metro Tech-South Campus.
The ABA Crew
We are the Reach Forward "boys crew" known as All Brothers Allowed. We enjoy learning and having fun together!
NEWS ARCHIVES
06.29.19---Great fun was had by all 17 teens and the parent volunteers who spent an entire day of water fun in nature @ Turner Falls (Davis, OK). To cap off the day, we visited Bedre Chocolate Factory on the way home to enjoy delectable treats that melt in your mouth!
05.25.19---School is out and it's time for some summer fun. We met as a group in the lounge section of Northpark Mall to practice our communication, teamwork and organizational skills as we worked through the logistics of our June Hangout (Bedre Chocolate Factory & Turner Falls). After our group planning session, we headed for a bit of movie fun at Northpark AMC. Check out a bit of our planning meeting here.
04.28.19---We partnered with Teri Walls of Master the Test to offer an information session to our Reach Forward Parents to help them help their children prepare for the ACT/SAT and overall college readiness. At the same time, our youth were working through ACT-type Math and English questions in the Boys & Girls Club computer lab. Check out the photos here.
03.19.19---This was the first college tour for many of our students. We had a great time touring Southern Nazarene University. Students and parents alike learned much about SNU as well as the overall college application process and student life. Thanks to this opportunity, we now have several students interested in attending Southern Nazarene. Check out the photos here.
02.16.19---Reach Forward took over the Oklahoma History Center. We had a wonderful time exploring all 5 galleries on a Selfie Scavenger Hunt! We may make this an annual event as it was so much fun! We thank the Inasmuch Foundation for making our trip possible through a special grant for schools and youth programs like ours.
01.26.19---The first annual Ties to the Future event for our young men was a huge success with 20 boys and 20 business men showing up to teach young men how to tie a tie as well as present themselves respectfully and professionally. A HUGE THANKS TO GQ FASHIONS AND BOARDMAN, LLC for ensuring that each boy received a new tie.
12.15.18---We wrapped up 2018 with a fun, interactive Holiday Party! Check out the photo gallery.
11.17.18---Our first group service project @ City Rescue Mission was a win for all involved! See photos here.
10.22.18---We had an amazing session on "Unmasking Our Fears". Check out a video excerpt here.
9.22.18: First official Hangout-Vision Boards & Goal-Setting
8.4.18: Community Kick-Off Event