On Thursday, State Representatives Peter Schweyer, Mike Schlossberg, Josh Siegel, and Jeanne McNeill announced new state funding to help Lehigh Valley residents. In a united press release, they shared that Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley and Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley, Inc. would receive a combined $2.1 million.
The announcement highlighted both organizations’ efforts to provide safe spaces for community members and uplift the community as a whole. This work could not be accomplished, the Representatives explained, without proper funding.
Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley is dedicated to leading children to success and mobilizing people, businesses, services, public policy and more to create a better community for all.
Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley seeks to create a safe place for survivors of domestic and intimate partner abuse, with an ultimate mission of eliminating this violence in the Lehigh Valley through survivor empowerment and community engagement.
Both organizations will seek to increase their capacity with the help of this funding. For Turning Point, this means stretching the outreach of their child and teen advocacy program, which visits local high schools for educational sessions. Their goal is to ensure that “nobody leaves eleventh grade without hearing about Turning Point.”
According to Lori Sywensky, Turning Point’s Executive Director, they’ve received requests to bring programming to more area schools but have had to decline due to the small size of their team and limited funding. This will allow them to expand into schools like William Allen High School and Liberty High School.
For Promise Neighborhoods, extra funding allows them to “contribute to public safety while also ensuring the safety of staff on the front line,” according to Dr. Hasshan Batts, Executive Director. Batts emphasized the threat to “credible messengers and anti-violence workers as they strive to end violence,” like in recent deadly attacks against anti-violence workers in Philadelphia and Wilmington.
The funding is provided by Pennsylvania’s Violence Intervention & Prevention grant program. Promise Neighborhoods was awarded $1.57 million, while Turning Point will receive a total of $580,000 over the course of three years.
Promise Neighborhoods can be reached at 610-351-4288 or at their website promiseneighborhoodslv.org.
Turning Point can be found at turningpointlv.org. A 24-hour violence help line can be reached at 610-437-3369.
