Princeton Community Foundation Awards Summer Program Grants

PRINCETON, NJ - The Princeton Area Community Foundation recently awarded $199,000 in COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Fund grants to 25 nonprofits holding summer programs.

These programs will include instructions to help students overcome learning loss caused by the pandemic.

“Through these grants, we are helping 25 nonprofits engage 2,900 children in educational and social-emotional learning programs,” said Jeffrey M. Vega, President & CEO of the Community Foundation.

“We know COVID-19 caused significant disruptions to education, especially for students living in under-resourced communities, and we hope these grants will help young people rebound from some of that learning loss and re-engage children in the many community-based programs that were forced to shut down last year.”

To prepare for the third phase of COVID Relief funding, the Foundation reached out to nonprofits and other stakeholders to learn about needs throughout the region.

Learning loss due to the pandemic and helping prepare students to return to classrooms were among the highest priorities cited by nonprofits.

According to a report by JerseyCAN, a nonprofit focused on education, a majority of New Jersey’s third- through eighth-graders were not on grade level at the start of the 2020-21 school year because of the pandemic.

Here’s a list of area nonprofits that received summer programs grants:

• Boys & Girls Club of Trenton & Mercer County, Trenton, will partner with The College of New Jersey on a tutoring program three days a week.
• Capital Area YMCA, Trenton, will provide academic support to students from the city as well as Ewing and Lawrence.
• Catholic Youth Organization of Mercer County, Trenton and Ewing, will provide assistance with virtual schoolwork and enrichment through a Book Club reading challenge and special events focused on science.
• Every Child Valued, Lawrence, will run a full-day summer camp, providing reading, language arts, and math academic enrichment programs for children who live in Eggerts Crossing Village.
• Hamilton Township School District, Hamilton, will run four Pop-Up School House events at schools districtwide.
• Help Self Community Development Corporation, Trenton, will provide math enrichment, literacy support and reading comprehension, financial literacy programming, and behavioral/social/emotional/mental health support to students.
• HomeFront will hire a teacher to create lessons for a student summer camp, and provide one-on-one programming for youngsters who need additional academic assistance.
• HomeWorks Trenton, will provide remedial tutoring and will focus on social-emotional learning and mental health issues during its summer program.
• Isles, Trenton, will collaborate with other camps and youth groups to bring students to its gardens for STEAM-focused lessons on nutrition, gardening, and bee pollinators.
• James R. Halsey Foundation of the Arts, Trenton, will bring a counselor to the Summer Film Series Program to talk to students about the effects of the pandemic.
• Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Trenton, will run a week-long summer immersion program for Trenton and Princeton high school juniors and seniors enrolled in its Futuro Program.
• Mercer Street Friends, Trenton, will work with teachers and principals to create all-day academic enrichment programs at Trenton’s Gregory Elementary and Rivera Middle Schools.
• Millhill Child & Family Development, Trenton, will collaborate with Rutgers University on a STEM camp and offer literacy programs at a summer camp for students in grades K-4.
• PEI Kids, Lawrence, will provide a summer program for high-risk youth who have been involved with or are at risk of becoming involved with, the court system.
• Princeton Family YMCA, Princeton, will run a summer day camp based on a holistic approach to programming, including social-emotional learning.
• Princeton Nursery School, Princeton, their summer preschool includes a dual language program and preparation for kindergarten.
• RISE, Hightstown, will provide a summer academic enrichment program, and hold a youth leadership conference for students from the borough and East Windsor.
• The Children's Home Society of New Jersey, Trenton, will provide academic programming to address learning loss, with increased support for children of immigrant families.
• Trenton Children's Chorus, Trenton, will run a summer camp that will include a Learning Academy, with instruction on study strategies and writing workshops.
• Trenton Circus Squad, Trenton, their summer programming will include a social-emotional learning component.
• Trenton Free Public Library, Trenton, will hold a 10-week summer reading program and book clubs for Foundation Academies students, as well as other youth programs.
• Trenton Music Makers, Trenton, will hold a summer session at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School that will focus on reading and storytelling and will hold the "Trenton Music Makers Reading Challenge" to award prizes for reading.
• UrbanPromise Trenton, Trenton, their Hybrid Summer Camp will include an educational component to prevent summer learning loss. It will include lessons to develop analytical thinking and creative expression, as well as art, science, and music programming.
• Young Audiences New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania, Princeton, will work this summer in Trenton, by partnering with the Capital Area YMCA to provide arts programming and theater improvisation workshops and social-emotional learning lessons.
• YWCA of Princeton will provide three summer programs that will include social and emotional learning lessons.

The Princeton Community Foundation created the COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Fund in March 2020 to help those affected by the pandemic. It has previously awarded more than $3 million to over 100 nonprofits working to address food insecurity, rental assistance and other needs.

Read More Here: Princeton Group To Host Fund For State Arts And Culture Industry

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