Inner-city kids are forced to learn lessons no kid should ever have to learn. To bring attention to these issues, we created “Lessons from My Neighborhood.” At first, it appears to be a friendly, educational children’s show, but it quickly takes a turn as puppets start teaching the devastating lessons inner-city kids are forced to learn every day, like how to know if Mom is overdosing on drugs, how to survive a drive-by shooting and what to eat when there’s no food in the house.

Each horrific but true lesson was created from an inner-city kid’s experience and brought to life with custom music arrangements, lyrics, sets and puppets. In the end, we made a completely original children’s show written by kids, yet not suitable for them.

To accurately portray inner-city kids’ lives, we talked with inner-city kids from Youth Ambassadors. Then with our composer, we turned these kids’ real-life lessons into friendly, catchy songs with original lyrics and music. All three songs were brought to life with custom puppets on custom sets to create our very own TV show, “Lessons from My Neighborhood.”

All three videos launched on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram on April 11, 2018. With a limited social media buy on Facebook ($5,000) and an aggressive PR outreach, we earned more than 86.2 million impressions and more than $1.6 million in free media in just under three weeks.

“Lessons from My Neighborhood” earned 86.2 million impressions and $1.6 million in free media coverage. But it did more than engage. It inspired our target to donate. In three weeks, people donated two times more than any other Youth Ambassadors initiative to date, making it the most successful in the organization’s history. And every dollar donated went directly back into teaching Youth Ambassadors new — and better — life lessons. Leaving a lasting impact on real children’s lives and our community.