Meet Jordan G! Jordan is a senior in high school and a resident of East St. Louis, IL. He has literally grown up in the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis. He first began attending and became a student of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Winning in Life® program at age 7.
Thus far Jordan has received three college scholarship offers (one of which is for a full ride), with other offers pending. He plans to study political science, and his long-term goal is to be a U.S. Senator representing the citizens of Illinois. In addition to being an excellent scholar, he works part-time at the JJK Center as an Intern Youth Development Professional. In this capacity, he can pass on to the younger children the life lessons that he has learned and applied that have him positioned to win in life.
East St. Louis is a city where ~32% of the population live at or below the poverty line. There are many research projects that report on the effects on children growing up in communities that are steeped in poverty. Some of the hurdles faced include high mortality, housing disparities, food insecurity, stunted emotional and social growth, mental-health issues, intergenerational poverty and educational inequality, to name a few.
Statistically, Jordan should not be doing as well as he is now, nor should his future be as bright as it looks today. So, why is Jordan defying the odds? If you ask Jordan, and the many children that participate in the various programs at the JJK Center, they will tell you they owe their motivation and belief in themselves to what they learn through the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Winning in Life® program.
The program series was designed by Jackie to unleash the passion and desire to succeed that rests within all of us. At the JJK Foundation we fundamentally believe that being born in a city that is severely under-resourced and shrouded in stereotypes, does not have to limit the course of a child’s future. Therefore, everything we do focuses on teaching our young people that despite life’s challenges, winning happens for those that strive for the highest standards and stay true to the highest values.
If you would like to be a part of helping deserving young people like Jordan to win in life, contact us at info@jjkfoundation.org.
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“There is Gold in all of us.” -Jackie Joyner-Kersee
