COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The Columbus Urban League is raising concerns over federal budget cuts that threaten to reduce the number of summer jobs available for local youth.
The program, which has been instrumental in keeping teens off the streets, is facing a significant funding shortfall.
Canal Winchester student shares how the program changed his life.
Gabriel Eshun, a senior at Canal Winchester, credited the program with helping him avoid trouble.
“Peer pressure, you know, going to parties, just doing like whatever you want to, it’s extremely easy, you know, falling to the wrong crowd,” he said.
Eshun participated in the program over the past few summers, working at a summer day camp and earning $15 an hour.
“One of my checks was like pretty big, it was about $870 and that helped a lot ’cause I’d be helping my mom with like pay the rent, pay the bills, you know, all that,” he said.
Stephanie Hightower, president of the Columbus Urban League, said the program served 450 kids last summer, but due to federal cuts, they will only be able to help 200 young people this year.
How much has the Columbus Urban League’s summer program budget been cut?
The summer program’s budget has been slashed from $2.2 million to about $800,000. Although the Urban League received $1.3 million from the city of Columbus, Hightower said it is insufficient to cover the shortfall.
Hightower expressed concern about the impact of these cuts.
“When you have young people that have idle time and they don’t have safe places to go and they don’t have opportunities to earn money, that gives them idle time and then that’s when our young people find other things to do that probably, they shouldn’t be doing,” she said.
Why is the Columbus Urban League’s summer program important to teens?
Eshun emphasized the importance of the program, noting that his summer job kept him busy and out of trouble.
“Most nights in the summer I’m not gonna lie, I definitely went to bed like round 10 p.m. ’cause I would have to wake up at like eight and go, so like I couldn’t stay up ’til like two in the morning,” he said.
The Urban League is urging the community to understand the implications of the federal budget cuts and the potential impact on local youth.
