Horton's Kids opens new headquarters in Southeast D.C.

A nonprofit dedicated to after-school education in underserved neighborhoods opens a new headquarters Friday near Fort Stanton Park.

Why it matters: The new Horton’s Kids location, Horton’s Hub, offers a safe space for children grades K-12 in Southeast D.C. at a time when local kids are enduring violence and learning loss.

The big picture: For more than three decades, Horton’s Kids has provided tutoring and resources such as winter coats and meals to D.C. families. It currently serves about 600 students and their families.

• Kids in their programs are twice as likely to graduate from high school, compared to peers in their same neighborhood, Horton’s Kids executive director Erica Ahdoot tells Axios.

Between the lines: The hub, in the former New United Baptist Church at Hunter Place, offers a media lab, job training, and mental health resources.

It's also located on what’s considered a "neutral block," says Ahdoot, which means community members say they've been committed to ending violence on the block, allowing family members to walk to the location safely.

What they’re saying: Yvette Pinkney brought her three children to Horton’s Kids two years ago after seeing their grades suffer during the pandemic.

• Since receiving tutoring at the Horton’s Kids Stanton Oaks location, which the family can walk to, Pinkney tells Axios that their grades have improved "tremendously” and so has their social behavior.
• “They have met new friends, they interact with the volunteers, the teachers here,” Pinkney says.