Press Release
| For Immediate Release August 30, 2005, 2005 |
Contact: Drew Hammill 202-225-4506 |
Meek Secures Federal Funding for Overtown Youth Center
Grant to Address High Truancy and Suspensions Rates Among Overtown Youth
MIAMI, FL – U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. Meek announced today that Miami’s Overtown Youth Center (OYC) will be awarded a $147,996 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for a project to address high truancy and suspensions rates in Miami’s Overtown area.
“The Overtown Youth Center has been such an amazing asset to our community," said Rep. Meek, who included the grant funds in a federal appropriations bill. "It is a unique facility that offers academic, civic and cultural enrichment programs targeted at economically disadvantaged children and families,” Meek continued. “This funding will allow OYC to provide year round opportunities for at-risk students and track the progress over a two-year period. These resources keep our children in school and off the streets, and should serve as a model for similar facilities across the country.”
The Overtown Youth Center was founded in 2003, and provides educational tutoring, recreational activities, and character and social skills development programs.
According to the 2000 census, 50% of all children in Overtown are under the age of 14, 1,500 children over the age of 14 are not attending school and only 1 in 12 children in Overtown graduate from High School.
The Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awarded the grant.
“I am very grateful for Congressman Meek’s long-standing support of the Overtown Youth Center,” said Alonzo Mourning, a founder of the Center and a former Georgetown University and NBA basketball star. “The funding secured by Congressman Meek over the last two years has been essential in allowing us to provide the educational, recreational and wellness programs that are so needed in the Overtown community.”
The Overtown Youth Center is located at 450 NW 14th Street in Miami. Along with Mourning, it was founded by Martin Z. Margulies, a world-renowned art collector and Miami real estate developer.
