BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Sen. Lisa Boscola announced that $1,719,606 in state funding has been awarded Wednesday to five nonprofit organizations serving Northampton County through the FY 25-26 Violence Intervention & Prevention (VIP) Grant Programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis state funding will enhance efforts to provide important violence prevention programming that will benefit young people,\u201d Boscola stated. \u201cThese grant funds will fund programs that will improve academic performance and social skills and also provide opportunities for young people to have fun in a safe setting. Without these programs many children would be unsupervised and there would be a much higher risk of engaging in risky behaviors.\u201d<\/p>\n
The grants were awarded as followed:<\/p>\n
Greater Easton Development Corporation, (Safe Routes to School Program) $500,000Community Bike Works, (Easton Bike Club) $494,800Valley Youth House, (Services to Easton Area and Bethlehem Area School Districts) $412,986St Anthony Youth Center of Easton, Pa Inc (dba Easton Area Community Center), (Youth Programs in West Ward) $232,820Wilson Area LINCS Family Center, (Skills Training and Recognition (STAR) Program) $79,000<\/p>\n
Greater Easton Development Corporation will use the $500,000 state grant to continue its Safe Routes to School program, a community\u2011based safety and prevention initiative serving school\u2011age youth in Easton\u2019s West Ward neighborhood, according to a news release. The program deploys trained Easton Ambassadors along key pedestrian routes surrounding Paxinosa Elementary School to reduce risks associated with traffic hazards, unsupervised time, and exposure to neighborhood\u2011level safety concerns during school arrival and dismissal, according to officials. By providing crossing support, visibility, informal mentorship, and real\u2011time coordination with school and municipal partners, the initiative aims to strengthen protective factors for approximately 600 students annually.<\/p>\n
Community Bike Works will use the $494,800 state grant to expand the Easton Bike Club, a bike\u2011based mentoring and violence\u2011prevention initiative serving high\u2011risk Easton Area High School students ages 14\u201318, the news release details. The program uses bicycles as an engagement tool to connect teens\u2014particularly boys of color from low\u2011income neighborhoods in Easton\u2019s West Ward and South Side\u2014with caring adult mentors in a structured environment, according to officials. Through a 48\u2011hour Earn a Bike curriculum, daily afterschool and summer cycling activities, one\u2011on\u2011one mentoring, youth apprenticeships, and a new \u201cBike Bus\u201d commuter support model, the project aims to build protective factors. Teen participants spend time each week with mentors, learning bike mechanics, safe riding, communication skills, and healthy coping strategies, while also gaining access to safe recreational outlets, transportation support, and meaningful leadership opportunities, officials said. Community Bike Works expects to serve approximately 60 individuals during each year of the project.<\/p>\n
Valley Youth House will use its $412,986 state grant to expand its school\u2011based violence\u2011prevention and mental\u2011health services into the Easton Area and Bethlehem Area School Districts, serving approximately 700 students annually across four secondary schools, according to a news release. The project responds to elevated trauma exposure, behavioral disruptions, unmet mental\u2011health needs, poverty\u2011related stress, and school\u2011based conflict documented through local PAYS data, district discipline reports, and county\u2011level violence trends, officials said. The initiative provides a coordinated continuum of supports that include trauma\u2011informed, school\u2011based counseling; Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS); the Too Good for Violence (TGFV) evidence\u2011based curriculum; risk and trauma screening; mindfulness instruction for students and staff; crisis intervention; family and collateral engagement; and ongoing participation in Student Assistance Program (SAP) processes. The program aims to reduce violence risk, strengthen protective factors, improve emotional regulation and coping skills, and increase school engagement for youth at risk for involvement in violence but not yet exhibiting chronic violent behavior.<\/p>\n
Easton Area Community Center will use the $232,820 state grant to expand its long\u2011standing organized competitive sports and athletic programs serving underserved youth in Easton\u2019s West Ward, according to the news release. The EACC currently provides after\u2011school programming, a full\u2011day summer camp, and rapidly growing competitive sports offerings including basketball, wrestling, cheerleading, and a piloted soccer program, according to officials. The proposed project aims to enhance administrative capacity, strengthen existing sports programs, and expand offerings to include larger\u2011scale soccer programming and additional sports such as pickleball, tennis, golf, and softball. Organized sports are intended to support positive youth development, reduce exposure to gangs and negative peer influences, build social and emotional skills, and provide consistent supervision during high\u2011risk after\u2011school hours. EACC anticipates serving 250 youth throughout the project period.<\/p>\n
Wilson Area LINCS Family Center will use the $79,000 state grant to launch the Skills Training and Recognition (STAR) Program, a new evidence\u2011based after\u2011school prevention initiative for approximately 200 intermediate\u2011aged youth in the Wilson Area School District, officials said. The program responds to elevated community risk factors identified through the Communities That Care (CTC) planning process, including low neighborhood attachment, depressive symptoms among youth, normalization of substance use, and limited access to structured prosocial opportunities. STAR will provide three annual cycles of supervised, skill\u2011building sessions delivered after school, with instruction provided by trained community partners and volunteers. Guided by the Social Development Strategy, the program will strengthen protective factors through hands\u2011on skills training, positive adult mentorship, opportunities for prosocial involvement, recognition of youth contributions, and structured enrichment activities, according to a news release.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis $79,000 grant through the Violence Intervention and Prevention Program is a tremendously valuable investment for middle school youth in the Wilson community,\u201d said Armando Moritz-Chapelliquen, President of the Wilson Area LINCS Coalition for Families and Youth. \u201cThis funding will expand our capacity to provide the Skills Training and Recognition (STAR) Program, an evidence-based, community-based after-school prevention initiative to increase youth connection to their community. Through structured and supervised programming outside of school time, STAR gives middle school youth meaningful opportunities to build skills, engage in prosocial activities, and receive recognition for their positive contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Sen. Lisa Boscola announced that $1,719,606 in state funding has been awarded Wednesday to five…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[214,153,155,154,1391,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-167462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-_homepage_top_stories","9":"tag-bethlehem","10":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","11":"tag-bethlehem-news","12":"tag-bethlehem-area","13":"tag-northampton-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}