Happy 4th of July!
This Independence Day, we say thank you to elected officials who have taken key steps to support Urban League policy positions and programs.
Public transportation
We thank the entire City Council and the Mayor expansion of night and weekend busservice in the 2017-18 budget. It is key to making transportation opportunity equitable for all residents. The expansion was inline with our recommendations from earlier this spring.
We go a step further in applauding the heroic efforts of three Council-members for their heroic albeit unsuccessful vote to rescind increases to Trans-Aid fares:
- Vivian Burke;
- Derwin Montgomery; and
- James Taylor.
Summer Youth Employment Program
A huge thank you goes to the entire City Council and the Mayor for allocating $165,000 to the Winston-Salem Urban League’s Summer Youth Employment Program.
Because of the City’s continued support, we enrolled 148 low to moderate income teens this week! They came to the Vivian Burke Quality of Life Center fired up and ready to be mentored!
Mental Health Services
Thank you to Commissioner Fleming El-Amin and to the entire Forsyth County Board of Commissioners. After a threat to the the Urban League’s Mental Health program, Commissioner El-Amin, asked the Urban League to speak to the Commission about the program.
We explained that we assisted hundreds of people in low income communities, most of whom are African American or Latino with little or no access to mental health services. We also advised that for many of the people we serve, police rather than mental health experts are their most likely first point of contact when experiencing a mental health emergencies.
Thanks to Commissioner El-Amin’s leadership, the Commission unanimously agreed to continue funding of the program.
Join us in saying, thank you to all of our elected partners!