The City of Gastonia and T. Jeffers Community Center have been awarded a grant for $9,700 from the North Carolina YMCA Alliance to provide temporary remote learning support for working families in our community. The T. Jeffers Community Center provides a remote learning site serving children who need a safe place to participate in remote learning while schools are closed to in-person instruction.
The T. Jeffers Community Center in Gastonia is one of 116 organizations with 287 sites that have been approved for the grant; together these organizations will serve about 14,000 students across the state. The grant dollars will be used to purchase and install Wi-Fi access points, purchase four new computers, and purchase six additional work stations for the Remote Learning Program at T. Jeffers Community Center.
“Funding like this gives us the opportunity to extend our services to the community during the pandemic,” said Cam Carpenter, director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Gastonia. “We want parents to know that we are here for them during the many changes they may be experiencing while schools are closed.”
Gov. Roy Cooper signed HB 1105, Coronavirus Relief Act 3.0, into law on Sept. 4; in part, this allocates $19.85 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding for qualifying community-based organizations (CBOs) across the North Carolina. Per the legislation, the NC Alliance of YMCAs is administering the grant program that enables CBOs such as YMCAs, YWCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, county and municipal parks and recreation departments, and other qualifying organizations in North Carolina to apply for funding to recoup expenses related to remote learning support.
“We are honored to serve community organizations by administering these funds in accordance with federal guidelines,” said Sheree Thaxton Vodicka, CEO of the NC Alliance of YMCAs. “We’re grateful for our legislators and governor providing a path for community organizations statewide to meet the critical need of remote learning sites for students and to provide funding from the federal COVID-19 relief funding relief to support so many organizations in providing this support to families.”
A list of the organizations that were approved for the grants is available at www.ncymcaalliance.org.
