Akron Urban League receives nearly $1 million to combat youth violence

The Akron Urban League will receive $956,000 in Community Project Funding for its Community Crime Prevention and Youth Engagement Initiative.

Congresswoman Emilia Sykes presented a ceremonial check to the Akron Urban League on Tuesday.

"All across the country, communities are struggling to fill the idle time that many youngsters have that often leads them to engage in less productive, and sometimes, dangerous and criminal activities," Sykes said.

The Akron Urban League will use this funding to promote alternatives to violence for at-risk youth through mentoring and life skills coaching, community leadership activities, and workforce development programming that will facilitate the finding, maintaining, and securing of employment opportunities.

"I think there's enough statistics that show that if youth aren't given focus, aren't given purpose and opportunity to stay on the straight and narrow, they're much more prone to go astray," said Teresa LeGrair, the CEO of the Akron Urban League.

The organization has educational programs, including the Young Adult Council, which helps look for solutions to crime and the Scholar Academy, which helps teens prepare for college.

In addition, there were workforce development opportunities.

Dwayne Richardson, the director of workforce development for the Akron Urban League, said all of the programs will be expanded with the new funding.

"Allowing kids to continue to have a voice of reason, to be able to have input on what they want to see changed, and then from a scholarship standpoint, we can help more kids with scholarships go to college," Richardson said.

The Akron Urban League is expected to officially receive the money in the coming weeks or months.

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