Former Linebacker Riki Ellison, a two time Rose Bowl, one time Trojan national champion and three-time 49ers Super Bowl champ, is investing back into the community that helped mold his career. According to PR Newswire, Ellison announced Tuesday the continuation of his Youth Impact Program, which in conjunction with USC and the NFL, reaches out to high-risk Los Angeles inner city youth.

Now in its second year, the free program connects USC’s Joint Education Program (JEP) with the NFL’s Junior Player Development program (JPD) in order to teach disadvantaged Los Angeles youth valuable academic, athletic and leadership skills. The Youth Impact Program uses its proximity to the NFL as well as provides free meals to entice inner-city youth into volunteering. Once in the program, some one hundred and twenty five middle school boys will spend four hours in academics in the morning, before learning football skill development in the afternoon.

Ellison explains:

The University of Southern California College’s Joint Education Program selects these young men based on need and risk. Once the boys are in the program, are surrounded by a positive university learning environment where the exposure and use of academics, language and mathematics skills will increase their aptitude in all of these important scholastic skills.

He continues:

…we know that participation in the youth impact program will get these young men away from the streets for one month in a positive, organized program that exposes them to athletics, character building, core values, and the positive aspects of discipline. This is in contrast to their challenging home environments.

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