WICHITA, Kan. – The Youth Educational Empowerment Program (YEEP) has been creating positive change by teaching financial literacy and essential life skills to young adults in Wichita and across the globe.

In recognition of their excellent work, the Wichita City Council and Mayor Brandon Whipple recently honored the organization and founder Marquis Murphy with a special proclamation for its role in empowering young people by equipping them with strong personal financial management principles.

In recognition of their excellent work, the Wichita City Council and Mayor Brandon Whipple recently honored Marquis Murphy, Founder/CEO, with a special proclamation for empowering young people.

The Youth Educational Empowerment Program is a non-profit organization that serves youth up to 24 years old, with a special emphasis in lower to moderate income communities. Over the past decades, the nonprofit’s web-based programming has reached many thousand students locally and nationwide, but YEEP is not stopping there.

In addition to YEEP’s programs on Empowerment, Business Etiquette, and Communication/Soft Skills, YEEP is launching a new program to promote “Racial Literacy” and cross-racial understanding for young people of all backgrounds, adding an important “fourth pillar” to its instructional offerings.

Called “Bridges Over Fences,” the groundbreaking new course aims to engage young people from all backgrounds in helpful discussions surrounding race, bias, and cultural diversity; making easier to build cross-racial relationships at school, the workplace, and community.

To help create the new program, YEEP is consulting with an expert on the subject of race and society, Dr. Michael Birzer, Professor of Criminal Justice at Wichita State University. Facilitators hope to model the new course after the one he teaches to future social workers and police officers in his Ethnic Studies/Criminal Justice course.

YEEP's racial literacy program will take a page from Dr. Birzer's successful classes by using an audio theater drama version of the young adult novel, "The Real Education of TJ Crowley" by Grant Overstake. The story, set in Wichita in 1968, dramatizes how education can help overcome ignorance, and how friendship can bridge the racial divide.

YEEP Founder and CEO, Marquis Murphy believes the theater listening experience will help create a "safe space" for students of all backgrounds to experience the lives of others who are different, preparing them for personal success in higher education and the workforce.

“We’re delighted to add the Bridges Over Fences program to increase racial literacy among our participants and the broader community,” Mr. Murphy said. “A radio theater experience like this will help everyone learn to be more empathetic and inclusive.”

YEEP is the fiscal sponsor of this major arts project, which has received support from the Kansas Creative Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the WSU School of Digital Arts' Shocker Studios, and many others. May Wuthrich, the acclaimed audiobook producer/director, is recording the drama at John Marshall Media in New York City, which is also editing and mastering the program.

Click Here to Access Selected Scenes of the TJ Crowley Audio Drama

Join YEEP's Mission to Promote Cross-Racial Understanding

Your support is crucial to help us complete the TJ Crowley Audio Drama for YEEP’s groundbreaking racial literacy program. To keep our production schedule on pace, our goal is to raise $30,000 to complete the project. Contributions received before July 1, 2023 will be matched up to $10,000, doubling your impact. Corporate sponsorships are welcome.

Donations can be made through YEEP's PayPal portal or via mail to the "Bridges Over Fences'' project.

Make checks payable to “YEEP: TJ CROWLEY” and mail to the "Bridges Over Fences' ' Project, c/o NonProfitGO 1477 N. Woodrow Ave, Wichita, KS 67203.

YEEP Launches Program to Promote Racial Understanding, Seeks Community Support

Click Here to Access Selected Scenes of the TJ Crowley Audio Drama