A-Mazing YOU Foundation c/0 A-MazingDOCS365

I am a Caribbean Youpreneur seeking to improve the life chances of young Caribbean nationals by writing and designing exceptional documents for career advancement. But, I have come to realize that there are still many rural children whose chances are far diminished even before the end of secondary school. For this, A-Mazing YOU Foundation (AYF) is the philanthropic arm of my business to help others achieve their dreams. The funds provided by the Elevate Prize would greatly assist in funding the education of rural children to help improve their life circumstances. It would also enable us to to lease, renovate and furnish an office facility in rural St Thomas to serve as the hub of AYF; to hire an administrator on a part-time basis; to provide a stipend to the Board annually and most importantly, to fund the education of rural children through financial support to their tuition and miscellaneous costs, -especially in light of the pandemic- to provide gadgets and data support, where they do not have access. 

A significant portion of children aged 12 to 17 years in St Thomas are affected by teenaged pregnancy, unemployment, illiteracy and poverty, especially from matrifocal homes.  The goal of AYF is to advance rural progress through education, whilst providing mentorship, support and service to develop rounded changemakers.

With some 40,000 students sitting the PEP Exam (primary exit profile) in May, AYF desires to assist 10 bright but struggling students with scholastic grants to begin secondary school. There will also be a network including peer mentorship up to the university level, as each one help one achieve their dreams.

AYF seeks to go beyond cake sales and gofundme initiatives to creating an investment profolio with BPM Financial to increase over capability to impact lives in rural Jamaica. The ultimate aim is to be able to fund our students from high school to first degree.

AYF will become a place of connection and support for the advancement of education for rural children. By kindness, we carve our names on hearts; etching eternal memories in the minds of those whose lives are transformed, and this is especially powerful when we make such gestures towards the vulnerable, rural young people. 

St Thomas is ranked as the poorest parish in Jamaica, with the highest rates of youth unemployment, illiteracy and poverty. Poverty has more than doubled from roughly 14% in 2008 to 32.5% in 2015, and is worst in female-headed households. This affect the life chances of girls, who become victims of teenaged pregnancy. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation with 59.1% of low-income households losing their income, according to IDB's COVID-19 study. This affect welfare, livelihood and outlook for thousands in Jamaica. This has inspired AYF.

A-MazingDOCS365 is positioned to become the leading e-store offering the best in professional writing, market research, graphic designs and other business services that are satisfying to all our customers. A-MazingDOCS365 represents the future of digital, imaginative and personalized writing and design. The company has been operational since 2018, and became a registered entity of the Companies Offices of Jamaica in 2020. AYF is the philanthropic arm of this company; a foundation that seeks to bring rural children to access greater opportunities through financial support, mentorship and networking with information about personal and professional development. This will start in St Thomas to match needs with resources to reignite dreams through education.

AYF is not looking for bright children only, but the 'almost bright' whose circumstances have been crippled or cramped by poverty and its attending ills. AYF endeavours to become a career-cradle that seek to steam the gap between the output of education and the needs of the economy. It is not only in sponsoring students but in encouraging them to pursue careers that are impact to the future of the Caribbean, for example, agro-processing, logistics and STEM education. The programme is intended to reach and transform youth people who have found themselves afflicted by the ills of poverty and have them support and mentor younger versions of themselves to become a network of changemakers. Ultimately, the aim is to grow into a career development suite that include scholarships, mentorship, development seminars and community service as a well-developed and integrated CSR arm of A-MazingDOCS365 Business Writing, which already young people in Jamaica to achieve their dreams. Lastly, the vision behind AYF is to develop an investment portfolio that grows with strategic investments to enhance the reach of the Foundation in affecting the life chances of rural children. 

The Foundation is geared to impact the life chances of rural children especially girls. This will be made possible through the effective engagement, sponsoring and mentorship of children demonstrating “academic aptitude” but hindered by poverty and the general lack through scholarships, mentorships, and networking to create a sustainable world career-cradle that focuses on principles such as literacy, open access and skill building to produce progressive children in the fight against rural poverty.

This will include:

1. Launching a scholarship call on June 22, 2021 to invite children to vie for the scholarship;
2. Conducting a motivational session to identify 30 children who meet the Foundation’s criteria to empower and pair with volunteer mentors;
3. Providing financial support to, at least, 10 students to provide books and other resources to start high school;
4. Registering the Foundation with the Department of Co-operatives and Friendly Societies under the Charities Act, 2013, after the first year of operations;
5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 annually to aid in the fight against rural poverty and deprivation among rural children, especially girls; and
6. build out the AYF Brand including social media and web presence, the investment and income generating portfolio.