By P.J. WILLIAMS
Aldine Y.O.U.T.H. lost half of its budget last fall, but that hasnt stopped them from expanding.
In November the community center which has been designated a Violence Free Zone learned that it would lose a grant from the National Center on Neighborhood Enterprises. The nature of the grant had changed and Aldine Y.O.U.T.H. no longer qualified for the monies.
Rather than let that the significant blow get them down, the board of directors decided to look at this challenge as a blessing in disguise.
I look at the funding that left us as an opportunity for new growth where people can come and plant their seeds and let it grow. I hope the grant we lost can be replaced with abundance, said Sylvia Bolling, founder and director at Aldine Y.O.U.T.H.
Though they have yet to make up for the lost grant, the centers board of directors decided to move ahead and start a long awaited resale shop on the property.
For the last year, Bolling has been planning a resale shop for the area, which she says desparately needs one. Money made by the business will help to keep the centers doors open.
It will also serve as a hands-on internship for teens in the soon to be formed Taking Care of Business Youth School (TCB).
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