The 300 girls who attend Metro Achievement Center near Greektown are not the brightest or the most in need of academic help.

They are not all Catholic, not necessarily of any faith at all.

What they are, said director M. Sharon Hefferan, is the “forgotten middle,” girls whose families live in inner-city Chicago and often have low incomes, but who, with some gentle nudging in the right direction, can see themselves in college.

Metro, and its brother program the Midtown Educational Center for boys, offer youngsters from fourth grade through high school academic help, goal setting, recreation and character education during evenings, weekends and summers.

Both centers operate with skeleton staffs and legions of volunteers, mostly young professionals, who serve as mentors and advisors.

“It’s the one-on-one connection, the friendship, the attention,” Hefferan said. “That’s the magic.”

The centers are operated by the non-profit Midtown Educational Foundation, with the character education done by members of Opus Dei. Each center has a chapel that can be used for prayer or private reflection, but there are no mandatory religious services.

Despite its non-denominational status, the centers are based on a very Catholic core value: respect for the dignity of each human person, Hefferan said.

“Most kids who walk out of here get that,” Hefferan said. “They are important because they are a child of God. … It’s part of the educational vision, but it’s also part of the vision of the person.”

For Maryella Martinez, a former student at Metro who came back as a volunteer advisor, the personal connection was priceless.

“The personal attention I received helped me realize I’m a very important person, unique and with the potential to make a difference,” said Martinez, now 22, with a degree in management in marketing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She volunteers Thursday nights as an advisor to five 11th- and 12th-grade girls.

“It’s the most rewarding experience to have made a difference in these girls’ lives,” she said.

The setting also brings faith into the secular world, the particular mission of Opus Dei, Hefferan said, and it can provide a comfortable way to introduce non-Catholics or non-practicing Catholics to the church.

“Here, in a sense, you have the church coming to the people,” she said. “People learn to approach faith in a more natural way.”