A short while ago a program that would provide job skills for at risk individuals was said to be in jeopardy and now we seem to have a second at risk program in jeopardy. During the Year Of The Gun all three levels of government held media events promising more police officers and more support for at risk youth but it almost seems like at risk youth is not the BK flavour of the day.....today it seems green is more important than blood red.
Funding cut for Jane-Finch centre TheStar.com - News - Funding cut for Jane-Finch centre
Decision comes days after member stabbed to death
April 06, 2007
San Grewal
staff reporter
The various forces that had conspired against Allen Benn – isolation, poverty, crime, drugs and a lack of education – were being beaten back by the 20-year-old who was stabbed to death on Monday.
With the help of a unique program that helped at-risk youth like Benn in the Jane and Finch area where he lived, hope had sprung for some of our city's most neglected citizens. But just two days after the fatal stabbing of one of its members, the Youth In Charge program discovered its end is likely near.
Organized through the San Romanoway Revitalization Association, Youth In Charge was counting on funding from the Michael "Pinball" Clemons' Youth Challenge Fund, whose board is chaired by the Toronto Argonauts coach. The objective of the fund – a community public-private resource under the trust of the United Way – is to help youth in 13 priority neighbourhoods identified by the City of Toronto.
On Wednesday, Youth In Charge program directors found out that despite revisions, their funding application had been turned down. Program leaders don't know how they will be paid, where funds will come from to help feed the 25 youth who dine at their centre nightly, or whether supervised activities will continue.
"In 2006, the provincial government gave $40 million to the Youth Challenge Fund to help curb violence," said Stephnie Payne, a Toronto District School Board trustee and executive director of the SRRA.
"In 2005, we saw 15 of our young people in this area murdered, and now Allen Benn, who was in the program since its inception, has been murdered. I would like to know how they are deciding who should receive this money."
Clemons told the Star: "You can never assume that you're going to be funded. We have a group here that's done some great work and is making an effort to get their house together to get some funding from Youth Challenge and I think they will for the next round of funding."
When asked why, specifically, Youth In Charge had been refused, Clemons said, "We don't talk about that publicly."
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