Our History

In the fall of 1997, two teachers, Kerry Freeman and Janet MacDonald, volunteered to tutor children after school in a lower socio-economic neighborhood of Azusa, which was well known at the time as a hub of drug trafficking and gang violence. Mothers and grandmothers eager for their children to receive the academic assistance and beneficial mentoring, immediately opened their cramped apartments on a rotating basis, thus allowing us to start right away. Two afternoons a week we lugged books, school supplies, educational games and homemade snacks up narrow staircases to tutor and encourage the Ninth Street children.

As word spread about the Neighborhood Homework House, the program attracted increasing numbers of children as well as volunteers from local churches and colleges. A representative of the Azusa Unified School District found us unloading school supplies and snacks one afternoon and began supplying snacks, supplies and encouragement. Before long it was necessary to use two apartments each afternoon, and by late 1999 we were able to rent our own apartment to serve as a permanent home for Our Neighborhood Homework House.  At this same time the Neighborhood Homework House established its 501(c)3 status and hired its first full-time Director, Abigail Gaines, to oversee the program. Since then, because of our overwhelming success and constructive impact within the community, our program has tripled in size. Our neighborhood encompasses several blocks of cramped sub-standard housing with many of the one or two bedroom apartments housing up to ten people, sometimes representing several families, many of whom, because of the living conditions, are classified by the state as homeless. In January of 2004 an additional Homework House was opened in the 6th Street Atlantis Gardens neighborhood of Azusa. For three years the 6th street neighborhood had been desiring for the Homework House to come and offer tutoring for their children. After much time and preparation the dream became a reality. This neighborhood is a predominately Spanish speaking, Latino neighbhorood. In the fall of 2005 the Neighborhood Teen Project was established to provide meaningful support for students throughout their teen years.  The Neighborhood Teen Project offers single subject tutoring, mentorship relationships, paid and unpaid interships, annual college visits, college entry support, teen topic nights, educational field trips, and a variety of other activities intended to motivate and support Azusa's teen population.  In the fall of 2006 the Neighborhood Homework House opened the doors of the Parent Resource Center in the 6th Street neighborhood.  The Parent Resource Center was established with the vision of empowering parents and families through providing education and resources in a supportive environment.  Some of the resources include: Parenting Classes, Marriage and Family Counseling, ESL, Computer Literacy, and several workshops throughout the year.

The Homework House has a Board of Directors representing local churches, Azusa Pacific University, and a variety of other professions.  The board meets eight times per year. All the services of the Homework House are provided free of charge to neighborhood children and their families; consequently, expenses are covered through donations and fundraising.