Straight Street
The program serves approximately 45 children each year at the three schools. The results after five years have been very impressive. Jimmy Cunningham, Program Evaluator, wrote:

"During the 2004-2005 program year, the Omega Rites of Passage program has produced results which show important change within the cohort. In each area tested, there are significant outcomes which sugggest that the program is actively engaging young people in a relevant and effective set of intervention strategies."

Additionally, Mr. Cunningham, made the following comment in his evaluation of the program:

"It should be noted that the evaluator of this project works with a consortium of youth violence prevention programs across the country. These programs are funded at much higher levels than the Omega Rites of Passage Program. However, the results that have been generated by Omega with fewer resource, less contact time and few years of service, equal or exceed the results of several of the referenced funded programs. To the extent that this program continues to challenge itself and grow, it can become a major national model in youth development."

The first group through the program completed a six-month follow up evaluation and 100% showed improvement in self-esteem. For the pre-test, none of the participants showed a 100% score, in fact, the average score was 58%. At the completion of the program, the post-test average was 94% and the six-month follow-up score was 97%. Eighty percent of the students completing the follow-up achieved a score of 100%.