KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Federal grant money that keeps Boys and Girls Club and YMCA sites open after school is on hold. The administration is withholding more than $6 billion in federal grants for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy and more as part of a review to ensure grants align with President Donald Trump’s priorities.
Matt Ryerson, YMCA of East Tennessee‘s president and CEO, explained that they were notified this week that the 21st Century grant was paused. This grant helps provide highly discounted and sometimes free, subsidized child care. He gave an example of how losing this funding could impact families, saying someone paying $25 to $50 a week for child care could now face costs of over $350 a week.
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“For us here at the YMCA in Knoxville, that impact is $170,000 for this upcoming school year,” said Ryerson. “And over the next three years, we had a committed grant of $510,000, so that money all goes away, directly impacting 149 children and over 100 families that really depended on that as a working family to provide the childcare they needed after school.”
Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley President and CEO Bart McFadden told 6 News that about $1.1 million, which impacts around 750 children at 13 of their locations, is on pause. He said their organization is working to ensure that they are in a stable place to continue delivering services to the children and families, despite the unpredictability and turbulence of federal funding…