Dear Editor,
I am a long-time resident of Richmond and for the past 25 years I have worked as a youth worker in the alternate school system in Richmond.
I’ve had the great pleasure over my career of working with the old Roving Leaders program which transformed into the REACH program.
Both of these programs provided outreach to vulnerable youth in the community. I am saddened to see the end to this program.
Our school PE program depended heavily on the connection with the outreach workers. Their ability to connect with our kids in a non-threatening way and being able to introduce them to community activities in a comfortable small setting was invaluable. They were a valuable conduit for our disenfranchised youth. The workers were able to build connections with kids who often struggle to get out into the community because of financial or emotional limitations.
The City of Richmond talks a lot about building assets and strives to be “the best place in North America to raise children and youth” but unless you put bodies into jobs it’s just lip service. The hole that the dismantling of this program has left is real. Kids are going without now because of the stroke of a pen at City hall.
Ruth Quirk
RICHMOND
