PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — City and state lawmakers announced Thursday that more than 100 organizations across Pennsylvania will receive a $100 million grant to split.
The grant, which is from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, is part of a three-pronged approach to gun violence prevention, protection and prosecution.
Senator Vincent Hughes and State Rep. Donna Bullock gathered at the Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia in Germantown to make the announcement.
Senator Hughes said the grants are being awarded to groups who have a proven track record of working to make their communities safer.
The Youth Empowerment for Advancement Hangout, also known as YEAH Philly, was one of the organizations that received part of the grant.
Kendra Van de Water, co-founder and executive director of YEAH Philly, said the funding is crucial to them and will go toward their Violent Crime Initiative.
“We work with young people, ages 15 to 24, who are charged with violent crimes, whether in the juvenile legal system, or the adult legal system,” Van de Water said.
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“And we provide intensive support, whether that mean court advocacy, we give them holistic support, vital documents for free, their families oftentimes get furniture and groceries and home repairs.”
She said they will use the funds to open a second location and expand and evaluate their practices.
“We're excited because we're actually partnering with Temple University, and this will be the first time that we'll have an evaluation, which costs $300,000, by the way. But we will have an evaluation independently to show and share a lot of our outcomes,” Van de Water said.
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Organizations like the Young Chances Foundation, Philadelphia Youth Basketball and Beyond the Bars also were also awarded the grant.
Officials say a nearly $5 million chunk of the funding will be used to support technical assistance, project sites, and research and evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of the projects being funded.