South Bend Tribune
SOUTH BEND Carlos Buckingham figured that his daughter would not be excited about spending part of her summer days in a church basement reading books and doing writing assignments.
He was right, and who could blame Cashmere Buckingham, 11? When that bell rang for the last time in the 2020-21 school year, going to a summer enrichment program like the 3 Rs Summer Youth Academy at Kingdom of Life Christian Cathedral church was probably the last thing on her mind.
After all, Cashmere would be leaving Marquette Montessori Academy to go to school with middle school students at Clay International Academy.
South Bend Youth Summer Job Fair this Saturday
abc57.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abc57.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Fun, and structure, for South Bend teens at new Friday night program
southbendtribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from southbendtribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SOUTH BEND â Adults plan plenty of events with the intent of giving children something positive to do on Friday nights.
The problem is that those sporting events or community and church functions end around 9 or 10 p.m., leaving teenagers with a lot of unspent energy and a lot of time on their hands.
âA lot of times people get caught up in the late night hours, and a lot of times our events take place in earlier time because we (schedule) our events when comfortable for us and not necessarily for our teens,â said Kintae Lark, who is the youth employment manager for the city of South Bend.
SOUTH BENDÂ â Aiming to reduce youth violence in South Bend, city leaders announced the recipients of the new South Bend Alive grant program Thursday, awarding nearly $350,000 in total to community organizations.
Out of 122 applications the city awarded 50 groups funding for 2021, with recipients getting anywhere between $5,000 and $25,000.
âThis program is really about building community because we know the solutions to this have to come from the community,â said South Bend Mayor James Mueller. âBut the city is going to be a willing and eager partner and assist in any way that we can.â
The program is managed by the Office of Community Initiatives, with director Maurice Scott saying Thursday he believes that providing funding to individuals and groups with good ideas is the best way to address the problem of violence.