After three decades, an education nonprofit continues despite challenges

When Denise Rodriguez started working at Delaware Futures — a nonprofit that provides after-school programs for disadvantaged students — she expected a standard office job from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

She later learned that students may need someone to talk to at any hour of the day.  

As Rodriguez began her work, it was some of the quietest students with whom she built the strongest relationships — with some even going as far as to hug her.

“That’s what drew me, to see that they were quiet one day, but now I see a smile,” Rodriguez said. “That’s what keeps me coming back. That’s what keeps me working until 8, 9, 10 o’clock.” 

Delaware Futures has provided services for disadvantaged students for three decades. Those include tutoring, informal counseling, and as well as meals and hygienic products.   

But as the organization approaches its 31st anniversary, it also faces budgetary challenges.

Delaware Futures Executive Director Providenza Rocco says it needs a million dollars a year to serve middle and high school students from all three Delaware counties. In a recent year, the nonprofit ran a significant deficit to do just that.   

Still, Rocco is positive and calls her program a “one-stop shop,” where students can get help with internships, academics, and workforce development. 

The program operates throughout the year, with the academic year being its most active period. 

Staff members go to schools and speak with teachers or guidance counselors about students who may be a good fit for the program. Some students also are referred by older siblings who were involved in the program. 

Delaware Futures does have a strict attendance policy. Instead, Rocco says she encourages students to be mentally present whenever they might attend. 

“It’s not necessarily the number of times [they come],” Rocco said. “It’s the number of times they come and really can share and get to know each other, and really get to know the speakers that we bring in, the tutors and all that.”  

Higher prices and a loss in funding

Delaware Futures was founded by members from two Episcopal congregations, but Rocco says “we’re not in any way a church program.”  

While its mission has remained the same over its three decades, it has changed its application materials recently to be welcoming to LGBTQ and undocumented students. 

“We are very accepting of all sorts of identities, sexualities, everything you want to label yourself as, we’re here for it,” said Trey Bruton, Delaware Futures’ data analyst. “That’s so important because 30 years ago, there wasn’t really much of that.” 

Services are free to students. To pay for it, the organization receives revenue from state funds, philanthropic groups, individuals and corporations. Sponsors include Capital One, M&T Bank and WSFS Bank. 

It received $729,000 from Delaware state government during the 2024 fiscal year which ended June 30, according to the state’s Open Checkbook website.

In the two years since Rocco came to Delaware Futures, she said that she has come to understand that it takes a significant amount of money to run the nonprofit. Today, she believes it costs $1 million in total to properly run the program. 

In 2022 — the most recent year the nonprofit’s tax filing is available — Delaware Futures’ expenses hit $916,000. To cover those costs, it ran a $182,000 deficit.

When asked, Rocco did not say whether such deficits continued in 2023. Instead, she stressed that the organization is doing “everything possible to get to a million” dollars in grant revenue.

“We are putting out at least five grants every single month,” she said. 

In a statement sent later, Rocco said higher prices and a loss in funding have resulted in a “tough year” for the organization. But, she reiterated that “we are committed to diversifying our funding streams, engaging with more donors, and are in the process of strategic planning and capacity building.”

Delaware Futures hired a non-profit accountant in December 2023 to track spending on things like food, transportation and programming. 

Still, Rocco admits she’s concerned about the costs of the students’ resources. 

“We need someone to believe in us as much as we believe in our students and to exist for another 30 years to carry on the mission of [founder Hal Haskell], I am worried about us,” she said. 

In 2022, 18% of Delaware children experienced food insecurity, and 16.8% currently live in poverty.

Only 24% of Delaware eighth-grade students were proficient in math during the 2022-23 school year, and 41% were proficient in English/language arts.  

When Rocco sees those figures, she sees Delaware Futures’ goal to break the narrative that “there’s these underperforming schools and in them are underperforming kids.”

‘They helped me get through it’

The time and dedication of Delaware Futures’ staff members hasn’t gone unnoticed by their students. Jaliera Taylor, 15, loved the program when she first started and felt a level of care and compassion from the staff after her mom died. 

“They helped me, they gave me stuff,” she said. “They helped me get through it.”  

Jaliera credited her friend Emmanuel Brown, 15, with being the reason she joined Delaware Futures. 

She isn’t the only person that Emmanuel has attempted to bring into the program; Emmanuel has often told other friends to join the program and brought some to different Delaware Futures events.

Emmanuel has also felt support from Delaware Futures and added that the relationships they’ve built are really on a family level. 

“[Rocco] is just going to be there for you through thick and thin,” Emmanuel said. “You have so many second parents inside one building, you could call anybody in this room right now, and you can be up on Fourth Street and I bet you one of them will leave.” 

Many Delaware Futures alumni have also come back after graduating to continue that passion for developing the state’s youth.

Aeryon “Cookie” Driver, a 2021 alumna, created her own teen center in Wilmington called The Warehouse, by using the leadership skills and connections she made while a student in Delaware Futures. 

“I want to give back even more to my community,” Driver said. “I was inspired to major in social work. I want to come back and continue to help teenagers.”