Motivate Our Minds records

Motivate Our Minds, Inc. (MOMs) was founded in the summer of 1987 by Mary Dollison and Raushanah Shabazz. Dollison and Shabazz wanted to provide assistance to under-served and at-risk students in Delaware County through various means of tutoring and enrichment activities. The first group consisted of sixteen students, and all activities were held in Dollison's living room. Of the sixteen students, fifteen successfully graduated from high school, and twelve of the students attended college.

MOMs eventually moved their activities to the Union Baptist Church of Muncie, but quickly found themselves outgrowing the space provided to them. Dollison, Shabazz, and other executives scouted locations across Muncie and eventually settled into their permanent location, a former meat market located on 2023 East Highland Avenue in the Whitely neighborhood. Thanks to grants and donations from the community, MOM's new facility was ready to accommodate students in 2003. The facility was renovated in 2004 to include three classrooms, a library, a kitchen, a computer lab, a community room, and a new office suite.

MOMs offers many educational classes and tutoring sessions, including courses in reading, mathematics, technology, language arts, and physical education. While the organization in dedicated to educating local students, they also help students become responsible members of their communities. Students can help plant, raise, harvest, and sell vegetables at the Motivate Our Minds community garden, assist with the Motivate Our Minds Read-A-Thon fundraiser, or participate in creative activities that promote Muncie and Delaware County history.

The organization currently serves 300 to 400 Delaware County students ranging from kindergarten to the eighth grade.