An afterschool program that serves 500 Luzerne County students faced drastic cuts when the state failed to renew funding. Community members want to let the program shine.
With assistance from AllOne Foundation and AllOne Charities, Earth Conservancy, United Way of Wyoming Valley, the Luzerne Foundation and the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, the SHINE program will receive $500,000 to be able to operate for the 2024-25 school year. John Yudichak, Luzerne County Community College president, brought the organizations together to find a solution.
“Without the community coming together to support us, we would have lost services to probably 250 students and their families,” said Carol Nicholas, executive director of the SHINE program hosted by Wilkes University.
This spring, the Pennsylvania Department of Education failed to renew funding for SHINE (Schools and Homes in Education) and ACHIEVE programs in Carbon, Luzerne, Schuylkill, Pike and Wayne counties. Program directors and allies said programs for more than 1,800 students in the region were at risk and have spent the last months appealing to the state and seeking other funding. Status of other programs was not immediately available this week.
In Luzerne County, SHINE serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grades in the Hanover Area, Hazleton Area, Greater Nanticoke Area, Pittston Area, Wilkes-Barre Area and Wyoming Valley West school districts. Students receive homework help and academic enrichment, conduct science experiments, learn about careers and receive a hot meal before heading home.
SHINE and the other programs had received 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants. In the latest round of new awards and renewals, the state distributed $27 million to 61 organizations. Funding was available for about half of the applicants in the latest round. The Luzerne County program had received two different 21st Century grants with the other one up for renewal in two years.
With funding secured for this year, SHINE will now look at funding models and other grants to sustain the program.
“The good news is that we won’t have to cut back on our program as we figure out longer term solutions to the issue,” said Mike Wood, special assistant to the president at Wilkes.