The Center for Afterschool, Summer and Enrichment for Kids, or CASE for Kids, continues to partner with the City of Houston to bring afterschool activities to each of the 11 city council districts through City Connections grants.

The grants provide unique learning opportunities facilitated by local nonprofits that cater to each district’s individual out-of-school time needs and help keep children in communities engaged and safe.

“During an ever-evolving time, the City of Houston has been a constant in its support of afterschool programs,” said CASE for Kids Director Lisa Caruthers. “We are glad to hear from these organizations that more and more services are being offered in-person again. We are equally grateful that the city has displayed a commitment to invest in youth because it validates how important their work is in the community.”

Nonprofit afterschool service providers met with city council members and CASE for Kids on Thursday, where they were presented with checks for their out-of-school-time programs.

Brandi Brown, executive director of HYPE Freedom School, a nonprofit organization that provides out-of-school time enrichment in the south Houston Sunnyside community and that has received City Connections funding for the past several years has been able to expand her organization’s footprint.

“This year, we were able to launch a new program with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Houston of Greater Houston where we do an online virtual Book Buddies program,” she said. “Our high school HYPE [students] mentor our first-, second-, and third-grade scholars through reading and weekly connection activities. These funds gave us an opportunity to launch that program and reignite the love of reading and learning for our scholars.”

Funding comes from the City of Houston and the Council District Service Fun, the council members’ discretionary fund. Through this partnership, afterschool programs in Houston received $619,500 for the 2021-2022 school year. Awards for each organization in council district communities ranged from $4,000-$12,500.

The full of awardees can be found here.

To learn more about CASE for Kids’ City Connections grant, click here.