Boys & Girls Club of St. Joseph County
e-Learning Support - RecoveryBoys & Girls Club of St. Joseph County
e-Learning Support – Recovery
Due to Covid – 19, the South Bend Community School Corporation began the 2120-2021 academic year with full-time e-learning that continued through early October. The Boys and Girls Club of St. Joseph County, in partnership with the SBCSC and the South Bend Empowerment Zone, implemented a six-week e-learning Support Program designed to provide students with technology, internet access, and assistance with online class assignments. Launched in August, the intent was to serve youth through clubs located in some of the more disadvantaged neighborhoods in the city.
Though they were provided staff by the SBCSC and the City of South Bend, the BGCSJC needed to hire a significant number of new employees and take on substantial overtime expenditures to successfully run the program. No students that requested assistance were turned away. After a successful capital campaign to build the new St. Joseph High School, there remained a need for funding to construct a football stadium and surrounding athletic facilities to complete the project. With a well-known interest in educational initiatives, this represented the type of long-term, sustainable project the Foundation wanted to support.
The BGCSJC submitted a grant proposal during our December 2020 application window in order to recoup some of the costs from the Fall 2020 semester and to prepare for the potential need to continue the program during Spring 2021. The Foundation, recognizing the challenges faced by students and schools alike during this unprecedented time, joined with other like-minded organizations to provide much-needed grant assistance.
