The Youth Services Division of the Henderson-Vance Recreation Department is holding a 20th-anniversary celebration one week from Wednesday, and a letter received from Gov. Mike Easley last week will give Youth Services something to toast beyond endurance.
Easley sent a notification that the Governor’s Crime Commission awarded Youth Services a grant of $58,959 for the coming fiscal year.
“Your proposal is a shining example of how we can have a significant effect on the problems that plague our communities,” reads Easley’s letter to Recreation Director Alan Gill. “We commend you for your dedication, hard work and commitment to safer communities and brighter opportunities for families across North Carolina.”
The Easley letter notes that the Governor’s Crime Commission grants were more competitive than ever this year because of a roughly 40 percent cut in federal justice assistance funding. “Commission members spend countless hours considering each application in an effort to select programs and projects that will best serve the citizens of this state.”
City Manager Eric Williams said in an e-mail message spreading word of the grant that the work of the Youth Services Division ties in perfectly with the efforts of the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, the Vance County Coalition Against Violence, the Vance Organization to Implement Community Excellence and the Police Department.
“I share with each of you the excitement of this good news & also commend everyone’s hard & consistent work to be selected, particularly in light of the more intense competition as described in Gov Easley’s aware letter,” Williams wrote. “A job very well done!!”
“To echo Mr. Williams’ remarks, I am very pleased with everyone’s collective efforts to secure grant funding of this type,” Vance County Manager Jerry Ayscue wrote in an e-mail response to Williams. “Sometimes we tend to go after grant funds which have only marginal value for our community; however, this is directly on target.”
Gill praised Robinson and program supervisor Donna Stearns for their hard work in securing the grant.
“I am continually impressed at your willingness to take on new projects and seek new funding sources for your programs, all in an effort to provide increasing levels of service to the youth and their families that you work with,” Gill wrote.
It was not clear Monday whether the grant will be used to improve existing programs or to implement new ideas.
But Mayor Clem Seifert noted there’s nothing new about the Youth Services Division making a difference for the city. He urged council members to attend the division’s June 15 anniversary party from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Aycock Recreation Complex.
“It is a little bit unique to have a division within a city department have an anniversary celebration for themselves; however, this is a little bit unique because this program was started in the Recreation Department, and Leon Robinson has been its director from the start,” Seifert said.
He said Youth Services is a “behind-the-scenes” agency to some extent, but its work should make the city proud.