The Mercy Education Project in Detroit works to bring education to more than 250 low-income girls and women in southwest Detroit each year. It provides tutoring, college readiness programs, a STEM summer camp, GED preparation, workforce development, transportation, and childcare assistance. The organization has operated for 25 years and has a $1.16 million budget, a staff of five full-time and up to 15 part-time employees or contract professionals, and more than 120 volunteers that offer more than 7,000 hours each year. Much of the population the nonprofit serves are minority women who did not complete high school or have failed earlier attempts to complete the GED. Most of its adult students have not been regularly employed, and nearly 60 percent have incomes below $11,000. All high school seniors involved in the program are accepted into one or more colleges of their choosing, and 60 percent of GED graduates report they have gone on to college, employment, or job training.
