Columbus investing $20.1 million on summer youth programming, in part to deter violence
Before playing on the Ohio State men's basketball Final Four squad in the 1998-1999 season, George Reese spent many hours in the Brentnell Community Center gym.
Now, Reese, the founder of Always With Us Charities, which provides "educational opportunities" and a "safe and healthy environment" to East Side youth, Reese returned to his childhood hardwood Tuesday to thank city leaders for funding initiatives like his own.
Reese preceded a number of speakers at a news conference Tuesday during which Mayor Andrew J. Ginther announced that the city is investing an additional $8.9 million into summer youth programming this year, on top of the $11.2 million that had already been allocated. The speakers cited violence prevention and lingering effects of COVID as primary catalysts for the funding.
The funds will be spread to more than 90 organizations to provide Columbus kids and teens with camp, jobs, internships and other related opportunities, Ginther said at the conference.
After what Ginther described as a "competitive" funding proposal application process for area organizations, the city selected organizations best suited to "reduce youth violence, improve workforce readiness, connect youth with education and employment and provide academic enrichment."
The total $20.1 million invested in youth summer programming this year is a step up from the $16.2 million last year.
Ginther, Columbus City Council president Shannon G. Hardin and council member Emmanuel V. Remy all stressed the need to support a youth demographic they say was particularly stymied by the pandemic.
"No group was more disproportionately, negatively impacted by the pandemic," Ginther said.
With funding underway, Hardin has bold ambitions for the summer programming.
“Because of this funding and because of the programs that are being added to this community this summer, every young person in Columbus should be able to get a job, should be able to get an internship, or to be able to actively engage in a summer program that will enrich them," he said.
Other speakers at the news conference were Carla Williams-Scott, director of the city Department of Neighborhoods, and Bernita Reese, director of the city Recreation and Parks Department.
In partnership with the My Brother's Keeper nonprofit initiative, which aims to increase opportunities for Black youth in Columbus, the Department of Neighborhoods was able to invest more than $3.7 million total into 27 organizations and programs, Williams-Scott said during the event.
Ginther called this year's investment "historic," but said that the city aims to make similarly sizable devotions to youth summer programming in future years.
"We want to make these types of investments for years to come," Ginther told The Dispatch. "It’s not for one summer."
JNimesheim@gannett.com
@JackNimesheim
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus spending total $20.1 million on summer youth program funding
