Horton’s Kids Academic and Youth Development Programs
2233 Hunter Place SE, Washington, DC 20020
About
Horton’s Kids Academic and Youth Development Programs offers one-on-one tutoring, literacy intervention, homework help, and educational advocacy for children. The program’s approach is multi-faceted and intersects through four reinforcing strands of service: academics, youth development, health and wellness, and family engagement. Horton’s Kids empowers more than 600 youth to improve their academic outcomes, develop important character traits, and access healthy meals, and children in Horton’s Kids are twice as likely to graduate from high school, with a graduation rate that is twice the neighborhood average. Horton’s Kids also provides food, clothing, personal hygiene products, and other items that children need to grow and be healthy, and offers children opportunities to broaden their horizons, find new interests, explore their strengths, and enjoy childhood.
Horton’s Kids states that empowering DC's youth to graduate and succeed in life and supporting children in Southeast DC is at the heart of its mission. Volunteers help Horton’s Kids deliver academic, social-emotional development, and basic needs supports to children in Ward 8, and the organization has welcomed hundreds of volunteers, including Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN anchor Jake Tapper, and former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Horton’s Kids partners closely with parents to promote their children’s progress and provides families with essential resources that reduce stress and promote stability. The leadership and management team includes Ty Grooms, Senior Policy Advisor to the Director of the DC Department of Employment Services and Horton’s Kids alum; Ruth Assefa, Sr. Coordinator of Data & Evaluation; Cassi Zeledon, Community & Family Programs Manager; Alphonzo Jackson, Community & Family Programs Manager; Bria Wimbish, Manager of Programs and School Advocacy – Middle School at Horton’s Kids; Danielle Bennett, Manager of Programs and School Advocacy; Paige Hawkins, Manager of Programs and Logistics; and Alex (Lex) Ballard, Director of Youth and Family Services. Staff credentials include advanced training and degrees in fields such as public administration, government, political science, psychology, mass communication, sociology, social work, secondary education English, curriculum and instruction, and middle-level education specializing in language arts and social studies. Participants describe their experiences by saying, “My Horton’s Kids tutor always told me I could be whatever I wanted to be… More and more people telling you the same thing, you start believing it,” and “Horton’s Kids has truly been like a second family to me. They have been there every step of the way.”
Last updated February 11, 2026.
Horton’s Kids states that empowering DC's youth to graduate and succeed in life and supporting children in Southeast DC is at the heart of its mission. Volunteers help Horton’s Kids deliver academic, social-emotional development, and basic needs supports to children in Ward 8, and the organization has welcomed hundreds of volunteers, including Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN anchor Jake Tapper, and former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Horton’s Kids partners closely with parents to promote their children’s progress and provides families with essential resources that reduce stress and promote stability. The leadership and management team includes Ty Grooms, Senior Policy Advisor to the Director of the DC Department of Employment Services and Horton’s Kids alum; Ruth Assefa, Sr. Coordinator of Data & Evaluation; Cassi Zeledon, Community & Family Programs Manager; Alphonzo Jackson, Community & Family Programs Manager; Bria Wimbish, Manager of Programs and School Advocacy – Middle School at Horton’s Kids; Danielle Bennett, Manager of Programs and School Advocacy; Paige Hawkins, Manager of Programs and Logistics; and Alex (Lex) Ballard, Director of Youth and Family Services. Staff credentials include advanced training and degrees in fields such as public administration, government, political science, psychology, mass communication, sociology, social work, secondary education English, curriculum and instruction, and middle-level education specializing in language arts and social studies. Participants describe their experiences by saying, “My Horton’s Kids tutor always told me I could be whatever I wanted to be… More and more people telling you the same thing, you start believing it,” and “Horton’s Kids has truly been like a second family to me. They have been there every step of the way.”
Last updated February 11, 2026.
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