PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria’s Friendship House is receiving some help from the state for its after-school programs.
State Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) announced a $300,000 grant for Friendship House on Monday. It will go towards the after school program and Pathway to YOUR Future, a program that helps develop life skills and job training opportunities for teenagers.
Gordon-Booth says it’s funding that’s vital in helping combat youth violence in central Illinois.
“We have to put positive adults in their lives. We have to take the time that they’re not in school, particularly those key hours of like 3:00 to 6:00 P.M., we need to be giving them positive places to be,” Gordon-Booth said.
Gordon-Booth says she would like to see fewer school drop-outs and more young people connected to community programs.
Friendship House President Marcellus Sommerville says he reached out to Gordon-Booth about the need for funding, especially with costs rising for the organization.
“We’re trying to continue to provide strong and adequate programming. And if we’re going to do that, we’re going to need a collective of buckets from everyone, and that’s just what it takes,” Sommerville said.
Sommerville says there is a reward in seeing the transformation of kids from all walks of life that go through their programs, with grade improvements and self-esteem.
Comments