About Us
OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO SUCCESS
The mission of the Rashied Davis Charities is to teach students how to overcome obstacles to success through inspiration, preparation and discipline.
INSPIRATION
“It’s important to step outside yourself and your comfort zone.”
Our Goal: A place where children learn to see beyond their existing circumstances
Our Focus: Enrichment Activities
PREPARATION
“Where you come from does not predetermine your level of success.”
Our Goal: A place where children acquire the knowledge and academic skills necessary for success
Our Focus: Literacy
DISCIPLINE
“To be successful, you need determination to stay on task and patience to wait for results.”
Our Goal: A place where children understand their obligation
to self and others
Our Focus: Character Education
What we do in life changes over time. Currently, Rashied Davis plays professional football. At some point he will move beyond his athletic career. Being an athlete is certainly an expression of who he is, but it is not all that he is. His identity combines the inspiration that fuels his ideas, the drive that moves him forward and the passion to leave something, in addition to football statistics, behind.
The mission of Rashied Davis Charities is to teach students how to overcome obstacles to success through inspiration, preparation and discipline. A key component for accomplishing this mission is early literacy intervention. The ability to read, write, speak, compute and solve problems at proficiency levels is necessary for functioning in society.
In America, 20% of adults function at “Level 1” literacy, meaning they can barely fill out a job application, read a medicine bottle or calculate costs. This reality takes a toll on individuals, families and the economy. Links between illiteracy and poverty, crime and poor health are undisputable: Nearly 50% of the unemployed are functionally illiterate; almost 70% of inmates cannot read above a fourth grade level; illiterate adults cannot understand basic health information. Because illiteracy is often passed from parent to child, intercepting the next generation is essential.
From the life lessons learned from his aunt, Bertha Lee, to the values he shares with his wife, Dianna, as they begin raising their daughter, Alanna, Rashied understands the impact education has on the family. For this reason, Rashied Davis Charities will create Saturday Place — a place where children learn to see beyond their existing circumstances, acquire the knowledge and academic skills necessary for success and understand their obligation to self and others.
Saturday Place will provide a tutoring program in the areas of enrichment, literacy and character education for 3rd and 4th grade students, with the goal of fostering the academic skills and personal skills they need to achieve success. Making this happen requires targeting one child at a time, one school-year at a time and one donor at a time.
As we move forward with the development of Rashied Davis Charities, we seek to partner with others, inspired by our mission. Your investment enables us to develop a program with clear goals and strategies to ensure our students are equipped to overcome obstacles to success.