DWINDLING FUNDS JEOPARDIZE CRITICAL AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM

Bridgeport, CT (March 21, 2003) - Thousands of children in the Bridgeport School District, some as young as kindergarten-age, could literally be forced out into the streets by the end of May as grant funding for the City’s Lighthouse Program dwindles. This crisis in the making will be the primary focus of a March 26 Community Conversation which is being co-sponsored by the United Way of Eastern Fairfield County (UWEFC) at Bridgeport’s Central High School from 5:30 - 7:30 pm.

Andrea Kovacs, Senior VP of Marketing and Community Relations for the United Way, said her agency is concerned about the future of the Lighthouse Program, which serves more than 4,000 Bridgeport students on school days, Saturdays and during the summer.

“The Lighthouse Program has such far-reaching impact in our community, that we can’t afford to lose funding for several children, never mind several thousand of them,” Kovacs said. “This initiative keeps children off the streets during the crucial weekday hours of 3 pm - 6 pm.

“When you try to imagine the consequences of losing the Lighthouse Program it boggles the mind,” she continued. “You’re looking at children as young as five- or six-years-old who may be left to their own devices after school. The cost for increased law enforcement responsibilities, crisis intervention, public health and other social services, to say nothing of the increased childcare burden on already overextended families will be exponentially greater than the costs to keep Lighthouse operating at its current level.”

According to program spokesperson Fernanda Esteves-Goncalves, The Lighthouse Program started in 1993 with eight school sites, and has grown to 29 in ten years.

“This is one of the most comprehensive programs we know of that brings schools, neighborhoods and the municipality together to provide students with nurturing, and supportive environments after-school, during the summer and on Saturdays. And according to our sources, it has had a tremendous positive impact on reducing crime by providing safe, supervised alternatives for children,” Esteves-Goncalves said. “Our program Site Coordinators are generally certified teachers, and staff consists of teachers, paraprofessionals, parents/adults, college students, and youth workers. In addition, many of the programs also include health care services, special needs services, and social worker services.”

At the high school level, she said, Lighthouse career development programs give older students critical job skills and responsibilities by training them to staff programs and supervise the younger participants at neighboring schools.

As the grant funding for much of the programming ends, Esteves-Goncalves said alternatives are few. They include closing down about 10 of the school-based programs serving more than 2,000 City children. This would occur at the end of the current school year on or about May 31, 2003.

“We’ve been busy working at making up the funding through new grant opportunities, but the money just isn’t there. I know we’ll probably talk about parents being tapped to make up the difference in cost, but that will be difficult for many of them,” Esteves-Goncalves said. “Since the program’s inception we have never asked participants to cover the cost. And when you consider the current economy, and the fact that this program enables thousands of parents to hold a job, it may not be a realistic alternative.”

Kovacs said the local United Way is co-sponsoring the Community Conversation in part, because Children and Youth are among the agency’s six vision areas for community impact. Other partnering co-sponsors include the general Electric Company, The City of Bridgeport, the City’s Board of Education, The Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition and the Bridgeport Area Foundation.

Kovacs said the United Way is also looking ahead because closures of Lighthouse programs will likely mean significant increases in funding requests from agencies and programs that will be struggling to accommodate the outpouring of students who have no other access to after school, weekend and summer programs.

The public, and especially parents who’s children participate in Lighthouse, are urged to attend the Community Conversation on the Lighthouse Program’s future at Central High School, 1 Lincoln Blvd., Bridgeport, Wednesday, March 26 from 5:30 - 7:30 pm.

United Way focuses on what matters and builds stronger communities by supporting nearly 80 health and human service programs that helped more than 180,000 people last year. United Way funded programs are involved in a range of critical services serving the six towns of Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Stratford, and Trumbull.