Record Staff Report
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was recently awarded an $80,000 grant from the Gheens Foundation.
The Gheens grant will fund programming for the Family Success Center, which provides education and social development opportunities for at-risk children.
The Family Success Center opened in September 2014 at 1029 S. Preston St., the site of a former St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store at the society’s Smoketown campus. Since that time, children in grades kindergarten through middle school have received year-round, after-school tutoring and structured programming that includes cooking, art, chess and a variety of sports and fitness programs, a news release from the society said.
“We want to thank the Gheens Foundation for their support,” said Jim Carrico, chair of St. Vincent de Paul’s board of directors. “The grant is important to us because it will help us expand opportunities for kids and their parents, which have become such a large part of our mission at St. Vincent de Paul.”
The center operates an annual day camp for children in grades kindergarten through high school each summer. Through a partnership with Jefferson County Public Schools, a three-week Homeless Education Summer Program began June 6. Sixty children registered for the program.
