School aid cuts threaten MYCA's upcoming January 2010 cycle.
The Michigan Youth ChalleNGe Academy (MYCA) will be closing its doors forever on 26 December 2009 unless the state legislature restores 100% funding in the current fiscal year. Current funding will not allow us to start our next class on January 3, 2010. Our funding shortfall is approximately $700,000.00. We have a very short window for legislators or donations to restore 100% funding to the ChalleNGe Program.
Closing Michigan Youth Challenge is a Bad Idea- Detroit Free Press- Nov. 20, 2009
We are a voluntary, no-cost *, quasi-military 22-week residential program geared toward Michigan's at-risk youth, ages 16-19, who have dropped out of school or are at risk of dropping out. We provide purpose and direction for the future of Michigan's youth through education and structure. The MYCA is located on the grounds of the VA Medical Center, 5500 Armstrong Rd., Bldg 13, Battle Creek, MI 49016
* (MYCA is funded by the State of MI and the National Guard Bureau on a 25/75 basis)
Pre-ChalleNGe & ChalleNGe Phases
Available Cadet Awards & Scholarships
Does ChalleNGe work?
Our program is for volunteer applicants only. Cadets must have a desire to complete the program to get their lives on a better path. The MYCA and it's staff will supply the youth with the necessary life coping skills, education, discipline, self-discipline, leadership/followership abilities, and structure. Only YOU can decide if you will let it work for you.
The Cost of Dropping Out of High School
- Michigan’s statewide dropout rate is approximately 15 percent – about 21,000 students from the class of 2007 alone.
- Forty percent of Michigan residents who received cash welfare in 2003 were dropouts, costing the state approximately $156 million.
- About 70 percent of convicts who entered prison in 2003 were dropouts; housing them for one year cost taxpayers $200 million. Eighty-eight percent of all high school dropouts who do not receive at least their GED will be incarcerated by the time they are 25, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Review the overall results of ChalleNGe
