Lyford Cay Foundations Awards Two New Grants

Non-Profits Receive Grants to Bolster Programmes for At-Risk Youth

(NASSAU, BAHAMAS) – Lyford Cay Foundations has awarded community grants to the Zonta Club of New Providence and to The Family: People Helping People Project. Both organisations were awarded funding to support their critical work in issues affecting at-risk youth.

Zonta Club of New Providence was awarded $5,000 to enhance its Path to Empowerment and Advancement through Knowledge (PEAK) programme. PEAK, which was launched in September 2022, focuses on improving the lives of residents of Willie Mae Pratt Centre for Girls, a facility for young women who have encountered difficulties with the legal system and are working toward rehabilitation. The programme provides weekly tutoring for residents by qualified teachers. Additionally, participants attend seminars on self-worth, respect, conflict resolution and other fundamental life skills.

“PEAK is a way for us to intervene in the girls’ lives to teach them positive ways of living so they can be empowered to reach their full potential,” said Ms. Claudine Farquharson, Chair of the Grant Committee for Zonta Club of New Providence. “We want the young ladies to know that their past mistakes do not define their future.”

The Family: People Helping People Project was awarded $6,000 to support its youth rehabilitation programme. Established in 2008, the project is a community-based intervention programme that uses psychotherapeutic principles to help promote social-emotional wholeness among marginalized communities. The grant will enable young offenders to receive the opportunity for a second chance by attending sessions. Participants include at-risk adolescents, residents of inner-city communities and court-ordered participants. The Family works with trained facilitators in established groups throughout New Providence. The programme offers a variety of services to these target audiences including tutoring and group counseling.

“We have a high rate of abuse and trauma in children. A hurt child is a dangerous adult,” noted Dr. David Allen, the organisation’s founder. “We cannot solve our violence problem unless we make our children safe. All of our programmes aim to make our children safe and by so doing, strengthen and protect the youth of our nation.”

“Lyford Cay Foundations is one of the few grant-making organisations in the country,” noted Dr. Nicola Virgill-Rolle, Executive Director of Lyford Cay Foundations. “Through the generous support of donors, we are humbled to have the opportunity to invest in initiatives that support community building through transformative learning opportunities for those most in need and to help young people address the major challenges that they face. We thank the organisations who work in this critical space to address youth rehabilitation.”

To learn more about Lyford Cay Foundations’ Grants programme, please visit our website: www.lyfordcayfoundations.org.