Many schools have formal and homegrown efforts responding to the impacts of poverty and other adversities on learning. The Universal School Breakfast Program feeds over 14 million students in schools across the country. The Jennings School District in Missouri opened a food pantry, homeless shelter and health clinic for its students. Programs such as Communities In Schools, Community Schools, City Connects, and BARR Center are addressing students’ comprehensive needs by connecting them to community resources.

AbbVie’s donation of $30 million will allow Communities In Schools to provide essential support services to nearly 70,000 underserved children, including for children in 16 high-need Chicago public schools. This investment represents the largest single corporate donation Communities In Schools has received in its 40-year history.

Monique has found that the practices have helped her and her colleagues navigate repairing relationships between the harmer and the harmed. “With relationships come understanding, and when you really understand each other, bullying stops,” she says.