By: AIF Staff
Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan started the American Idea Foundation because he wanted to lift up individuals and organizations doing the hard and necessary work of expanding economic opportunities to people in-need. He fervently believes remarkable things are happening in communities across the country, but all too often, these amazing success stories are drowned out by the negativity and divisiveness that dominates our civil discourse.
To support and shine a light on those organizations who are making a difference in people’s lives, Ryan and the American Idea Foundation have issued annual grants to groups focused on evidence-based approaches to fighting poverty and promoting upward mobility. Since 2022, the American Idea Foundation has issued nearly $1 million in grant funds to 20 different deserving non-profits across the country and has supported their work of addressing major social and economic challenges in a data-driven way.
One of the 8 organizations that the American Idea Foundation is honored to support and partner with in 2024 is the Downtown Boxing Gym in Detroit, Michigan.
Since 2007, the Downtown Boxing Gym, led by its founder Khali Sweeney, has been committed to improving educational outcomes for Detroit students, with a particular emphasis on improving reading skills.
To accomplish this, the Downtown Boxing Gym mixes athletics with academics in a family-like setting and develops long-term relationships with students, primarily between the ages of 8-12 but with continuing support offered to individuals under age 25.
Currently serving nearly 200 boys and girls from 30 different zip codes and from 57 different schools across the Detroit area, the gym provides free after-school programming which consists of academic support, mentorship, athletic activities, ACT/SAT prep, nutritious meals, and more. Accepted students are evaluated by academic coordinators to determine baseline academic and athletic skill-levels and then the Downtown Boxing Gym develops customized plans to help each student. They offer these programs year-round, Monday through Friday, and do so at no cost, making it accessible to every child in the Detroit area who needs support.
In an interview with CBS News Detroit, Sweeney said: “I started the boxing gym because it was a lack there. It was something that was missing. It was something that was actually needed… The kids in our community needed a place to go in the area where we were first located, and it wasn’t a lot of stuff over there to do, so I saw the need.”
A 2018 profile of the organization by ESPN, entitled Hitting the Books, the Boxing Gym saving Detroit’s Youth, summarized the Downtown Boxing Gym’s approach:
“Boxing is the enticement to get kids into the gym, but the real goal is in the white-painted rooms behind the rings. It’s there where the motto [Sweeney] stresses — “Books Before Boxing” — is pulled off. That’s the true mission of the Downtown Boxing Gym: a mantra consistently preached by the students…. Boxing brings the kids in. Education, life lessons and a group of adults preaching positivity and seeing potential in kids surrounded by negativity is why they stay.”
Succinctly summarizing the gym’s growth and deepening impact, Chase for Business said:
“What began over a decade ago, with Sweeney and a handful of volunteers has grown into one of the nation’s leading after-school programs. Its proven track record of success — a 100% high school graduation rate for 16 straight years — affirms that access to education is the key to economic mobility.
The gym boasts a growing roster of accomplished alumni, who have advanced to higher education and successful careers, and a waitlist of more than 1,000. DBG now has more than 40 employees and an operating budget of over $4 million per year.”
The Downtown Boxing Gym is changing lives. It’s more than just a boxing ring. Rather, it provides a safe place for students to learn, grow, feel safe, and build skills that will serve them into adulthood. As their literacy rates improve alongside their athletics, the Downtown Boxing Gym is creating opportunities and pathways for Detroit’s youth to realize their versions of the American dream.
With demand for their programming increasing, the Downtown Boxing Gym has committed to measuring and evaluating their effectiveness in an academically rigorous way as they grow. In 2023, the gym and Purdue University received a $2 million National Science Foundation grant to study the impact of their program, particularly as it relates to helping students develop an interest in STEM-based fields. The NSF grant funds, along with support provided by the American Idea Foundation, will be used to expand the Gym’s programming, help with the construction of a 22,000 square foot building for STEM-related activities, and to perform a five-year study on the program.
Without a doubt, as the city of Detroit continues its economic comeback following the Great Recession, organizations like the Downtown Boxing Gym will play a critical role in the city’s youth improving their educational skills. It will continue to be a beacon for local students, providing them with a place to thrive and exercise while also giving them the skills to realize additional economic opportunities later in life.
The American Idea Foundation believes in the community-driven work of the Downtown Boxing Gym and is proud to help buttress their amazing stories of success with evidence and data.
To learn more about the American Idea Foundation’s 2024 grant recipients, click here.