DENVER — The City of Denver and the Denver Public School District (DPS) came together Thursday to announce new grant funding that they hope will help combat youth violence by allowing for the creation of more after-school programs.
DPS and the city each put up $100,000 for a total of $200,000 in grant funding. The partnership is the result of the Mayor's Youth Violence Prevention Action Table.
Teachers, principals, community organizations and community members can apply for micro-grants of up to $10,000 for youth programs.
"These can be after-school programs popup community events, additional support staff, extracurricular educational opportunities, trips to explore the great outdoors and other activities to promote safe and healthy youth development," said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.
Through the program, the city will also waive event fees for events that take place at city-owned facilities and parks.
Thursday's announcement was made at Montbello Recreation, which is located in an area of the city where youth violence has been more prevalent.
"Keeping Denver's children safe and healthy is the top priority for us and is one of the most important parts of the jobs we take on every day," said Hancock. "It is without question that the most recent rash of youth violence acts, that our community is simply reeling."
Hancock and DPS Superintendent Susana Cordova both noted that the grants are just a small step in the process.
"As we see the incidents of youth violence increasing in our community, the well being of our students is at risk," said Cordova. "We know we need to act now so that we can bring an end to this threat."
She went on to say that research shows that when students participate in after-school programs, their academic performance increases and they're less likely to get involved with drugs.
"This funding is just one part of the puzzle to address what we are seeing and demonstrates our commitment collectively both in our schools and in our city to make sure that we have all hands on deck to address this," Cordova said.
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