DETROIT (WWJ) -- Officials at Focus: HOPE have confirmed that they will not be receiving federal Head Start funding for the upcoming school year, which means the closure of the early childhood learning program for kids living in four Detroit area ZIP codes: 48202, 48206, 48211 and 48238.
Previously, the program, overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, helped the nonprofit get kids ready for kindergarten.
Speaking with WWJ Newsradio 950's Tony Ortiz, Focus: HOPE CEO Portia Roberson said that this will be the first time in more than a decade that these neighborhoods will be without a Head Start program. Without it, the children will lose vital early learning, nutrition, health and family support services that prepare them for success in school and in life.
"I mean, disappointing is not a strong enough word," Roberson told Ortiz in an interview Tuesday.
"We're still hopeful that, you know, we're asking today for parents...and community members to advocate on our behalf to see if there's any possibility of reconsideration. Because this federal funding means not just Focus Hope doesn't offer the services of Head Start in this community and in these zip codes, but that there's no other alternative for kids in this zip code area."
Roberson said these cuts leave a few hundred families in the area without another option.
"I was caught offguard because, in essence, we were the only ones applying to serve the four ZIP codes that we had previously been serving," she said.
"...There really wasn't anyone else that wanted to do the work that we, we were doing in this, in this neighborhood, in this area. So, I felt pretty good that our chances were pretty good because we would just be continuing to provide services we were already providing only in the neighborhood that we were already providing those services.
"So yeah, I was caught off guard by the fact that Essentially what they said was, you know, you don't have any federal funding and the kids are just out of luck basically."
A town hall to discuss the issue was scheduled to take place Aug. 12 at Focus: HOPE headquarters at 1400 Oakman Blvd. in Detroit.
Roberson is not quite ready to give up hope.
"This was a fully-enrolled program where over 300 children came to us on a daily basis for our Head Start and Early Head Start program," she said. "I'm hoping that the powers that be see the importance of it and will restore our funding."