Midtown Educational Foundation

For over 50 years, the Midtown Educational Foundation (MEF) has opened pathways to success for Chicago’s at-risk minority youth. MEF’s comprehensive support has helped thousands of students to overcome the constraints of their neighborhoods and the shortcomings of Chicago’s overburdened school system. Using a holistic approach that supports and builds the entire person from the age of 8 to 18, MEF guides at-risk youth from grade school all the way to college enrollment. This support, which includes supplementary academics, one-on-one mentoring, character education and more, puts at-risk students on the path to succeed in college and the professions.

In its service since 1965, MEF has found the trajectory of the average inner-city minority student can be reversed over a continuum of time. That’s why MEF programs start in fourth grade and continue through grade twelve. Early support builds positive study habits and reinforces in-school learning, ensuring students stay on the path to college success.