Today we’d like to introduce you to Charles Sharper.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Charles. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in the city of Detroit in a big family where my mom and dad were foster parents. There were always lots of kids to play with. It was there I learned how to take care of children. I also developed a love for basketball, baseball and track and field. I was a three sport athlete in high school excelling in basketball, cross-country and track and field. Aside from sports, I became senior class president.
After playing four years of Division 1 college basketball, I went on to coach Men’s basketball at Hampton University. After coaching, I began my career as an educator where I learned which aspect of educating was truly for me. I didn’t like teaching in the classroom however, my love became teaching kids after school.
While teaching elementary physical education, I quickly learned that children weren’t getting the playtime like I did when I was younger. Unlike years before, over 80 kids now participated in a 45 minutes class period leaving only eight minutes of actual instruction after set up, dealing with behavior issues and other unexpected class management challenges. It became evident that the school district began to cut back on recess and other playing opportunities. It was during this time I realized I had a passion for kids to play more. The desire to develop my passion was even more sparked while sitting in a teaching conference hearing the speaker say because of sedative behavior in children, my generation would be the first that would not outlive their parents. It was that statement that motivated me to create Healthy Youth USA. I wanted to be apart of the solution. It was at this time I started to do a little research and learned that close to 600,000 children under the age of 12 are left home after school daily.
Staying home alone leaves kids unsafe, sedative with nothing to do and more prone to occupy their time doing negative things. I took what I had learned as a child in Detroit from my parent’s foster care experience combined with my education and love for sports and created a safe place where children could learn to be active, gain social skills, get academic assistance and develop their character in a positive place.
In 2005, the first year of the “After School Club” began with about 30 children, quickly increasing in attendance the following year growing into now serving 160 children daily. The 160 doesn’t even include the kids that attend our other programs like basketball, acting classes, dance teams, and very popular Summer Camp. To say we have grown would be an understatement. With partners like Global Health Ministries, North Atlanta Church of Christ, and a lot of dedicated people in the Sandy Springs community, The Healthy Youth USA Foundation continues to offer a great service to this community year after year.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Starting a nonprofit is not easy. When I first started The Healthy Youth USA Foundation, I didn’t know much about nonprofits. The very first mistake I made was thinking that I could do it by myself. The funny thing is my wife knew more than I did as she has worked for many successful nonprofit organizations. One year after making a ton of stupid mistakes I got a great idea! I simply asked my wife for help! At that point, I started to do things smarter. Andrea started to manage our finances as she still does today. Because of compliance, transparency, and integrity the mismanagement of funds can be the beginning of the end when it comes to nonprofit.
Another thing that was difficult for me at the beginning was just staying true to our organization’s mission. In my opinion, it is critical that a nonprofit organization stays true to its mission without mission drift.
Lastly, I’ve always had a heart for what I do and I’ve always been able to do the physical part needed to carry out our programs. However, I needed to learn the business side of nonprofit. So I enrolled in classes at Nonprofit University and started to train and arm myself with the knowledge I needed to improve and become better at being an executive director. When I took the time to understand the families in the community we served, things started to really take off.
Please tell us about The Healthy Youth USA Foundation.
The Healthy Youth USA Foundation provides creative programs for family in the community. These program have included family boot camps and annual performing arts performances. We are proud to announce our dance team “Georgia Dance Force” as four time national dance champions. We also offer one of the largest intramural youth basketball programs in Sandy Springs titled “Good Basketball”. The foundation’s basketball program include three boys and girls travel basketball teams that compete all across the Southeast. All of our programs have become a popular staple within the Sandy Springs community, however the cornerstone of our organization is the Afterschool Club. The Foundation currently serves 160 children Monday through Friday. It is during the afterschool program where kids receive a healthy snack, homework assistance, physical educational classes, and an opportunity to socialize with a diverse group of kids from Fulton and Dekalb County schools.
What sets us apart from other afterschool programs is our programming which is uniquely intense and authentic. We are proud of many of our students as they often become successful athletes on their middle school and high school sports teams. Many of them even go on to receive college sports scholarships. As Executive Director and founder, I am most proud to know our programs have been able to serve and influence over 7000 families in this community.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Qualities or characteristics I feel that have been most important to my success is having integrity, the ability to be flexible and creative, and lastly never giving up even when the people that I’m helping have wanted to give up.
Pricing:
- After School Club $65 Weekly $35 Scholarship Weekly Rate
- Summer Camp $150 Weekly Rate
- Good Basketball League 8 week Season Cost $150 Includes uniform
Contact Info:
- Website: www.healthyyouthusa.com
- Phone: 770.896.5595
- Email: info@healthyyouthusa.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthyyouthusa
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/healthyyouthusa
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/healthyyouthusa
Image Credit:
Costello Knight, Andrea Sharper, Trarell Torrence
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