Gracie Bonds Staples, columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, took a look at Horizons, and liked what she saw: "There are thousands of kids here and across the country who say the program changed and is changing their lives."
Staples' column follows Horizons graduate Suleima Milan-Salinas, now a 21-year-old college student, who credits her success to Horizons. “I started to look forward to summer, friends, and swimming," says Suleima. "By my first year of high school, whenever I saw the statistics that students who didn’t continue learning over the summer had a learning slide, I thought not me. Every summer, there was this group of teachers and kids pushing me to be the best. My confidence skyrocketed.”
The story also quotes Horizons Atlanta's board chairs, John and Mary Brock. "A lot of programs give kids a place to go," John Brock says. "Horizons is a real enrichment program that helps them figure out how to read better, do math better, and swim, which has a ripple effect on their families and communities."
In the past five years, Horizons Atlanta has become the largest affiliate in the Horizons National network and is expected to grow to nine sites this summer.