The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A $1.5 million state budget appropriation for the Franklin Township Youth Center and the Somerset County Action Program was delivered at the October 10 Township Council meeting by state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen.
The money will be used to fund a number of programs jointly administered by the Youth Center and SCAP, officials said.
Speaking of the Youth Center and SCAP, Danielsen (D-17) said, “Together this dynamic duo of programs provides our township with a true sense of community by the many services they offer daily.”
But the programs don’t happen without “the talented and committed staff” and funding, he said.
“In this year’s state budget, I secured $5.8 million of new funding for Franklin Township schools, additional funds under the Anchor Program for our senior citizens, homeowners and renters, and the newly passed StayNJ legislation which will benefit all our residents,” Danielsen said.
But I did not feel my job was complete until I secured additional state aid for the Franklin Township Youth Center and SCAP,” he said. “It was a promise I made about 14 months ago, and tonight I deliver on it.”
Windy White, the Township’s Deputy Director of Recreation, said Youth Center staff are “very eagerly looking forward to working with our partners at SCAP.”
“It will be for our wonderful young people,” she said. “Every day we have young people, mostly middle schoolers for now … they love the staff, they love what we have to offer thanks to all of you. This money will help us expand what I call our Triple A programming, that’s athletics, academics, and art.”
SCAP Director Mark Harris said that “great partnerships” with the Youth Center would help SCAP to expand its own programming.
“Some of this funding will also go back into the community, where services are needed most,” he said. “We’ll also do community needs assessments, so we’ll go into the community to see what we need in the community … no one will be left behind.”
“This youth center and this partnership with SCAP is evidence of the work we do in the community,” said Beau Byrtus, the Township’s Recreation Director. “Groups like the police, the Board of Education, the Township, SCAP, all of these groups come together to provide opportunities for the youth of Franklin.”
“It reaffirms what we all know to be true, and that is that the state of New Jersey, Somerset County and Franklin Township care about our kids and they care about our future,” he said.
Township Councilwoman Kimberly Francois, who for 15 years agitated for the Youth Center to be built, said that it was one of her dreams for the Center that SCAP would be involved.
“Now we’re here, we have some money to do it, we have plenty of programs we can spend the money on … and we’re going to spend it well,” she said.
