Karam’s Kidz Center downsizes to serve more children

In 2013 Karam’s Martial Arts organized a nonprofit, Karam’s Kidz Center, for children who could benefit from their skills-training program and whose families or foster-care parents were unable to cover the course fees.

Karam’s Kidz Center’s mission is to empower children from disrupted families to succeed at home, school and life through their martial-arts program. Disrupted can be defined as any child who has a loss of relationship and loss of security due to various reasons.

With the advent of COVID-19, everything changed. Some of their classes went virtual, but also there was an increase in the number of referrals for children whose lives had been disrupted and who needed the stability and life-skills training the Karam’s program provides.

Karam’s Kidz Center did not want to turn anyone away, so they made the decision to downsize their class space and thus their overhead to make better use of the nonprofit’s funding to help the community.

In doing so, they recently moved from their facility in New Philadelphia to one at 205 Deeds Drive in Dover. The same facility also houses the Tuff Bags program and Crunch Time Sports.

Space wise, they moved from 10,000 square feet to 3,000. Classes that were once held in separate rooms now practice on opposite sides of the same room.

“Although our former building was an impressive, beautiful space, we could not rationalize maintaining that large of a location while we have stacks of referrals for children who would benefit from our program,” Andrea Karam said. “The need is outweighing what we can sustain in terms of funding and resources.”

The timing was right as Karam found herself out of work due to the pandemic. She was willing to step in to head the nonprofit and make it her main focus. She also wanted to continue the family legacy of almost 50 years that was created by her father, the late grand master Harvey J. Karam, who had taught thousands of children and adults in Tuscarawas County.

The Karam’s Kidz Center services have been provided through grants or private sponsorships, with the Karam family sponsoring many of the children themselves.

“By scaling down our overhead, we will be able to reach a broader scope of children in need in Tuscarawas County,” Karam said.

Since they began, the nonprofit Karam’s Kidz Center has partnered with many organizations including the Tuscarawas County Board of DD, Big Brothers Big Sisters, United Way, Horizons Transportation, counselors and nine schools in Tuscarawas County that provide referrals to the program for children who would benefit.

“We have had success in this mission that has produced measurable results for each child who has attended our program by diminishing barriers that would make it difficult for them to attend such as sponsorships to pay for their attendance and transportation,” Karam said.

The organization’s program provides the essential life skills children need to be successful.

“We mentor our students to be ethically and morally accountable, respectful, and confident members of society,” Karam said, adding these skills are necessary to avoid the repercussions the children could face if they have minimal mentorship or never develop these essential life skills that are taught through Karam’s curriculum.

There are many benefits of martial-arts training including improved ability to focus and concentrate, better grades in school, more self-confidence, higher self-esteem, improved physical fitness, becoming more responsible, self-discipline, and the ability to set and accomplish goals.

Karam’s Kidz Center accomplishes these life skills and more, not just with martial-arts training, but also with homework assignments the student is responsible for completing. These assignments include a Book Club, where students must read for 15-20 minutes five times a week; self-discipline, in which students record when they helped at home without being asked; healthy eating; completing a home-job list, which includes self-care, completing schoolwork and treating others with respect; and martial-arts home practice.

Parents and teachers help verify the students’ compliance by signing off on the homework sheets.

In one school alone where children who were falling behind participated in the Karam program, 76% of students increased their math MAP scores, and 81% of students increased their reading MAP scores. Absences and disciplinary incidents declined.

“One phrase that was taught to our family growing up: brave leaders are never silent around difficult subjects. The reality of what is going on in our community for children is rarely said or seen,” Karam said. “Our job is to excavate the unsaid and the unseen in a secure, supportive environment. That requires courage and vulnerability on all parts. We teach this; it is time to put it to practice by transitioning our location and focus.”

Karam’s Kidz Center wants to assist with whatever barriers their students face to get them the skills they need.

“Things look different, but we are still the same,” Karam said. “It will take some time to gather additional community support and funding, but we are actively working on making this mission expand.”

Karam believes COVID-19 has made everyone focus on priorities in life and what truly is important.

“We believe refocusing on community needs is the most paramount priority to serve one of our community’s most vulnerable demographics, at-risk youth,” she said.