As a second grader in Acton, Massachusetts, Hollis McAllister begged to hang around City Year’s spaces, even when school wasn’t in session. It was a place she could be herself.
Now after serving in the national service organization for 14 years, McAllister is the newest executive director of City Year Tulsa. The nonprofit places young adult AmeriCorps members in public schools with high levels of poverty to provide tutoring, mentorship and social-emotional support.
She’s been at Tulsa’s office since it began, moving sight unseen to Oklahoma from Boston nearly 13 years ago. Now the city is “capital H home,” and she hopes to grow the program even further as its leader.
“I’m really focused on City Year being a place that our young people who serve with us leave and say that was the best possible thing that I could have done with 10 months of my life,” McAllister said.
The program places 17- to 25-year-old members in high-need schools to provide mentorship to K-12 students. More than 70 are currently serving in Tulsa.
They work for 10 months, putting in 50 hours a week. The smaller age gaps between students and mentors, McAllister says, helps build trust and gets more students connected to their school community.
“They’re some of the first people at school to greet kids, give them a high five, thank them and their parents for making the decision to come to school that day,” she said. “They’re in class not just supporting with academics, but also just being that extra person to help.”
As a corps member, she remembers one student confiding in her that he was experiencing homelessness — a discovery she made after digging deeper into his misbehavior at school. No one else knew. She thinks about him a lot.
City Year Tulsa reports students with two years of “consistent” support from the organization graduated at 37% higher rates than their peers. McAllister says that jumps to 57% after three years. Most City Year mentors stay in Tulsa after completing their service — a trend she hopes to continue.
“No matter if somebody wants to go on and get a job at the QuikTrip headquarters or go on and be a teacher or a social worker, we’re providing our city with people who are workforce-ready and able to be key contributors,” she said.
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