45 kids lost their funding in June!
Beginning this June, key federal funding, known as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), ended completely for 30 elementary students currently enrolled at our Mark Twain BASP. Although our Alexander BASP has 3 more years under the 21st CLLC program, additional funding cuts mean this program also lost 15 camp scholarships this summer. Our Alexander program also lost 10 school-year scholarships this fall. Quality and affordable childcare is a difficult resource to find for many Johnson County parents and guardians. This resource shortage is, especially, problematic for the families who live in the low-income, low-resource neighborhoods we serve. Our families rely on NCJC on-site after-school programs to provide a safe place for their child (ren) to go while they are working to make ends meet. Many of these families are the “new Iowans” we see more and more of every year in our community—i.e. Immigrants, refugees, and Americans are relocating from nearby major cities – and are still learning how to navigate their new environment. We know that parents affected by these cuts cannot afford these programs. Many will have to choose between work and leaving their kids home all day unattended. This newfound hardship will cause a lot of stress and loss for these parents and our Johnson County community. We are asking the community to help support our campaign to raise $100,000 to ensure all of our kids have A Safe Place To Go this summer and next school year. Will you join us? |
How You Can Help? |