JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Community Connections takes care of over 1,000 children after school and during the summer. With recent cuts, that number is being reduced by almost half. With even more budget cuts coming from the mayor's proposed plan, the results could be devastating.
The organization says it fills a niche. The agency provides transitional housing and daycare for homeless women and their kids.
"My mom is at work," 4-year-old Jahkobi Hines said proudly as he enjoyed another day in the care of Community Connections. He then shared, with a smile, all the fun things he gets to do all day.
However, Community Connections lost nearly $500,000 in funding recently after being forced to move out of four of their facilities, but the money didn't move with them.
"Our executive director went to the children's commission and asked to move the money to other sites that we were partnering with the city to provide afterschool programs and they refused," Greg Frazier, chief development officer, said.
"Probably the part that upsets us more than anything is going to be the loss of services to the nearly 400 kids we've been serving."
Now, Frazier says, the Jacksonville Children's Commission is facing cuts in the mayor's plan and that will likely reduce Community Connections afterschool programs even more - a service many working families rely on.
"The return on investment for the city is these people are no longer homeless, do not need public services anymore. But without that they have no place to go and no chance."
Frazier says this isn't just a warehouse for children, it provides quality education. And if they were to lose that, that trickle down effect could be very bad for our community.
