The Georgetown Boys & Girls Club is seeking federal funding support with an assist from Congresswoman Sarah McBride.
The organization’s Georgetown staff have hopes to expand capacity from 110 to 150 or even 180 students. But the current facility doesn’t have the room for that kind of growth, which Rep. McBride noted after a tour of the building Wednesday.
“What's clear is that while there's a lot of love in this facility and a lot of great work happening, that there's still so much unmet need and still so much unmet potential,” McBride said.
A larger, updated facility is estimated to cost $11 million and the organization is asking for $6 million in Community Project Funding with McBride’s support.
The request is one of fifteen that McBride submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations, whose members will decide which projects to fund.
The remaining $5 million is anticipated to be pulled together by community funders and other grants.
The club’s current facility is a small building serving its 82 students — with staff offices located in classrooms and only one staff bathroom.
Club director Renee Hickman said a new facility would support staff and students alike.
“It just opens up the opportunity to be able to bring in more people, bring in more staff, more people to take care of the kids, give them more resources,” Hickman said. “It's just bringing in jobs.”
Hickman highlighted the need for more support and community for Georgetown’s children. There is a prison three miles from the current building. Hickman said she wants there to be more hope and opportunities for children in Georgetown.
“When you ride by that prison facility – as massive and as large as it is – … it's just really difficult to see such a large facility to house bad decisions, poor decisions, in regards to children that are trying to start a future, try to dream dreams,” Hickman said. “So I want to make sure that we're able to give a large facility to incorporate dreaming big dreams instead of making negative choices.”
One way Hickman said she hopes to do that is by expanding programs for children 13 to 17 year olds. The current facility doesn’t have the space or staff to add classes.
“I'm watching middle school students getting off the bus with nowhere to go. We want to make sure that we keep them coming in…” Hickman said. “I want to make sure that we're able to give a large facility to incorporate dreaming big dreams instead of making negative choices.”
McBride concurred, adding that funding often drops off for program serving children once they hit the age of 13.
“That is exactly the wrong time for money to drop off at 13,” McBride said. “Young people are much more mobile, and that means that if they don't have… family support or community support that they need and that they deserve, that a lot of young people at that age end up engaging in behavior that's not helpful to them, that's actually harmful to them and ultimately harmful to the community.”
Additional support for and investment in teens better prepares them for adult life, McBride said.
“Not only does that empower them for a lifetime, it also reduces crime, it reduces expenses for our cities, our county and our state,” McBride said. “It helps to build safer communities, and certainly helps every young person reach their fullest potential, which means a stronger economy in the long run.”
More space would also allow staff to open programs to pre-schoolers, who the Georgetown staff do not currently serve.
“[Parents] want to be able to bring in their younger kids to the same location that their older kids attend,” Hickman said. “It just makes it easier for pickup and all of those things, and then it also affords us the opportunity to start them out even younger, getting that education that they need, and also being a part of the Boys and Girls Club.”
The House Committee on Appropriations will decide whether or not to move forward with the Georgetown project.
