Federal Funding Hold Threatens ourBRIDGE Afterschool Programs

ourBRIDGE for KIDS, a local nonprofit that supports the city’s immigrant and refugee children and their families, may be forced to discontinue its after-school program as a federal funding freeze holds up hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for the organization.

According to ourBRIDGE for KIDS, the organization was informed on Monday that approximately $826,000 that was scheduled to be allocated to the organization on Tuesday would be withheld indefinitely.

The money came from a spending bill signed by President Donald Trump in March that allocated about $1.3 billion for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC), with states responsible for distributing the funds through a competitive grant process.

The grant money from CCLC, already awarded to ourBRIDGE before being withheld, was set to fund the organization’s two after-school programs this fall, serving 250 students.

“Not opening the doors in the fall would mean a major disruption to the academic development of 250 students and the stability and routine of over 180 parents and caregivers that are counting on us to be able to work and provide to their families” said founder and executive director of ourBRIDGE for KIDS Sil Ganzó in a release on Thursday. “That’s why we’re prepared to do whatever it takes to keep the support to our families going in some form as we move forward.”

Ganzó is asking supporters to contact Gov. Josh Stein, NC attorney general Jeff Jackson and their state representatives to help lift the freeze, though she says the organization’s leadership is currently planning for the coming school year without the CCLC funding for after-school programs.

Originally located on Central Avenue in the heart of Plaza Midwood, ourBRIDGE for KIDS was launched as an after-school program for immigrant and refugee students in Charlotte in 2014.

Its services have since expanded, moving into the Charlotte Is Home Center off Shamrock Drive in east Charlotte, where it runs its community-based after-school program. It has also added a school-based after-school program in southwest Charlotte.

LISTEN: Nooze Hounds: Sil Ganzó of ourBRIDGE for KIDS

The ourBRIDGE programs run Monday through Friday on afternoons during the school year, plus a full-day, five-week summer program. They include academic and mental health support, literacy tutoring, dinner, snacks, field trips and transportation. 

The programs work with children from 18 schools, mainly Pinewood Elementary, Merry Oaks Elementary, Windsor Park Elementary, Winterfield Elementary and Eastway Middle School.

“The program has consistently received high marks for academic, social and emotional gains for over one thousand multilingual students and their families for the last 12 years,” read Thursday’s release.  

According to the national School Superintendents Association, the US Department of Education sent out a notice of the funding freeze on Monday, less than 24 hours before organizations across the country were set to receive their allocations.

“Given the change in Administrations, the Department is reviewing the FY 2025 funding for the grant program(s), and decisions have not yet been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming academic year,” the notice read. “Accordingly, the Department will not be issuing Grant Award Notifications obligating funds for these programs on July 1 prior to completing that review. The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.”

Leadership at ourBRIDGE is calling on community members to consider donating to the organization as it deals with the unexpected halt in funding.

“For context, $1,000 equals 52 hours of afterschool for 12 students,” Thursday’s release read.

For more information or to get involved, visit the ourBRIDGE for KIDS website.