Obama Administration Awards SGA Youth & Family Services 2011 Promise Neighborhood Planning Grant
For immediate release
Mary Lazarikos
312-447-331
mlazarikos@sga-youth.org
Senior officials from the Obama Administration and the U.S. Department of Education announced today that SGA Youth & Family Services (SGA) has been awarded a planning grant to put school improvement at the center of local efforts to revitalize underserved neighborhoods. This is the first Promise Neighborhood Planning grant awarded to an Illinois agency.
The Promise Neighborhoods program aims to address significant challenges faced by students and families living in high-poverty communities by providing resources to plan and implement a continuum of services from early learning to college and career.
Promise Neighborhoods were launched in 2010 with one-year planning grants to 21 communities across the country. SGA Youth & Family Services received one of the fifteen 2011 planning grants announced today. Congress recently passed a fiscal year 2012 budget, which will include an additional $60 million for Promise Neighborhoods.
SGA has already begun this model in the Chicago far south side community of Roseland with the SGA Roseland Children's Initiative. "We believe that promise and opportunity should be afforded to every child within the community. SGA is proud to launch the Initiative with our partners in our 100th anniversary year", states Dr. Susana Marotta, President and CEO of SGA Youth & Family Services.
SGA's Roseland Children's Initiative (RCI) envisions a community where there is a comprehensive, continuous and intentionally integrated investment in children and youth so they are prepared for and succeed in life. RCI will focus on core investments in Community Building; Family and Community Supports; Education; and Data-Driven Decision Making.
"Promise Neighborhoods recognizes that children need to be surrounded by systems of support inside and outside of the classroom to help them be successful in school and beyond," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "The 20 grantees announced today are spread out across the country, reflecting a broader nationwide movement to revitalize struggling communities by providing better access to health care, social and safety services partnered by great schools."
The RCI Community Advisory Board, SGA Board, administration, and staff have committed their understanding of development and community collaborations to the vision that children will attain an excellent education and successfully transition to college and career and contribute to their community.
"I commend all communities that are putting education at the center of efforts to fight poverty in urban and rural areas," said Melody Barnes, domestic policy advisor to President Obama. "The goal of Promise Neighborhoods is to provide the resources and support young people need to succeed while transforming distressed neighborhoods into communities of opportunity."
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