All THAT sees teens to a brighter future
Nonprofit helps Columbus youth reach potential
Danella Hicks is all about hope. h She’s hopeful that teenagers in Columbus who often find themselves in trouble or falling through the cracks at school can have a bright future, whether that’s through college, trade school or a career. h And the 57-year-old Blacklick resident works to helps hundreds of young people each year reach their potential through her nonprofit, All THAT (Teens Hopeful About Tomorrow). h “That’s the No. 1 thing we provide: hope,” she said. “If I can get you to believe it’s possible, then you’ll engage when you go to school. But if you don’t think anything better is coming along, you have no reason to try.”
Hicks, along with the help of 10 staff members and several volunteers, mentors teens ages 14-18 in academic achievement, life skill development and career planning. All THAT offers free afterschool services, on-site sessions for schools, a summer Workforce Development Academy and services at the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center.
The fall program for afterschool services begins Sept. 13. at the former Shady Lane Presbyterian Church, located at 4117 E. Livingston Avenue on the East Side.
Hicks, who is the founder of the organization, can relate to what many of the teens in the program go through, as she also struggled in high school. She said those were some of the hardest years of her life, filled with a difficult home life and confusion about what to do after graduation. However, two teachers encouraged Hicks to stay in school.
After high school, she enlisted in the Army for four years. Hicks then went on to become a certified public accountant.
While working as the director of finance for the Heinzerling Memorial Foundation in Columbus, she founded All THAT in 2009. Hicks had worked with teenagers before as a youth leader for several years at First Church of God but wanted to do more.
Hicks said the program started out with only four kids in a strip mall on Hamilton Road. She said it was difficult operating the organization during its early days.
“When you decide that you want to do something that’s never been done before, you have to wear so many hats,” she said. “I’m the custodian, I’m the bus driver, I have a board I have to answer to. I got to design a website, I gotta write grants. All of that comes with the territory.”
But by 2019, All THAT was serving more than 600 teens through its onsite and afterschool programs. The organization works with several schools in the area such as Walnut Ridge High School, Independence High School and Whitehall-yearling High School.
Hick said the East Side of Columbus has “pockets of poverty,” where some people can’t afford to pay rent or often need food assistance. She said the schools they work with are economically disadvantaged and that 99% of teens in the program come from lowincome households.
According to a 2021 State of Poverty in Ohio report from the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies, the poverty rate in Franklin County for 2019 was at 13.5%. However, the rate was at 28.2% for African Americans — who make up the majority of the participants in All THAT — and 26.1% for Hispanics.
In addition, the report showed the probability that a child raised in the bottom fifth of income would stay in the bottom fifth from 1980-2012. That figure for Franklin County was 41.8%, while the probability of a child rising to the top fifth only equaled 3.6%.
“You need someone to give you hope that things will get better,” Hicks said. “If you’re in a world where you don’t think things will ever change, then what’s the purpose?
“But if you believe that one day, you’re going to find the right person, you’re going to get that car, you’re going to leave the neighborhood and do better, do something different — that’s what keeps the wheels turning.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Ohio in March 2020, schools were one of the first places to close, and students had to quickly switch to online learning. Hicks, however, considered All THAT an essential business, so she kept her doors open.
She said as soon as Gov. Mike Dewine allowed places to have groups of 10 people or fewer, she allowed staff members and students to come back to the building.
“Just as doctors are essential workers and they are still serving people, All THAT is still serving our teams,” Hicks said. “We saw ourselves as essential workers for our community.”
To better help teens complete their schoolwork, the nonprofit group received funding to buy new laptops and increase the building’s internet speed.
The organization also operated its summer program last year, with kids wearing masks and practicing social distancing and frequent handwashing. Hicks said she served about 175 teens.
This summer, All THAT had 51 teens enrolled in the Workforce Development Program, which offers four career tracks they can explore: science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); hospitality and culinary arts; business and skilled trades.
One person new to the summer program was Andre Desenberg. The 17year-old East Side resident was part of the skilled trades, construction, and automotive track.
Desenberg said he learned how to change a tire and construct a bench. He said the skills he learned over the summer will help him when he begins the 10th grade next week at the Ohio Construction Academy.
“I’ve learned how to manage my money and bring my A-game to work,” Desenberg said.
A new option for students this summer was driver’s training education through the Rightway Driving School. Seventeen-year-old Sobenna Titus was one of the teens that got to practice being behind the wheel as part of it. The East Side resident said she has not taken the driving test yet but passed the written test.
In addition to learning how to drive, Titus’ involvement with All THAT lead to a summer internship at the Statehouse as an administrative assistant. This fall, she will be a senior at Tree of Life Christian Schools.
Titus said the program was a positive way for her to interact with teens from various backgrounds.
“A lot of people come from different backgrounds, but we can come together to still accomplish a task,” she said. mwalker@dispatch.com @micah_walker701