Paso del Norte Foundation awards additional grants to engage disconnected youth

On Tuesday, officials with the Paso del Norte Health Foundation announced that their organization had recently awarded three additional grants totaling more than $277,000 under the Healthy Kids Priority Area – IGNITE Initiative.

These additional grants are part of 10 other grants that were awarded in November.

“The goal of the IGNITE Initiative is to improve a range of health outcomes by engaging disconnected youth in the region in high quality programs during out-of-school hours,” PdNHF officials added.

The Health Foundation refers to “disconnected youth” as people between the ages of 5-17 who are not involved in out-of-school activities or not working.

Funded organizations are:

Boys & Girls Clubs of El Paso – $126,260.00

Boys & Girls Club Connect To identify and recruit 120 disconnected youth ages 6-12 years old to join the Club Connect program at clubs in south El Paso, Montana Vista, Canutillo, and the Lower Valley in El Paso County.

City of Socorro – $54,962.43 Youth in Culture

To pilot an after-school and summer camp program targeting a minimum of 100 disconnected youth ages 5-17 living in Socorro, Texas with the goal of engaging and empowering youth through various visual arts forms, mediums, and techniques.

Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico – $96,700.00

“Kids Can” Youth Entrepreneurship Program To pilot the expansion of the “Kids Can” program to at least 100 new youth ages 5-17 in Anthony, Hatch, and Las Cruces, New Mexico.

For more information on these grants, call Bianca De Leon, Program Officer at 915-218-2623 or bdeleon@pdnfoundation.org