Parents and volunteers demand solutions after Howard’s Healthy Choices eviction at Briggs Library
Loading...
Summary
Community members, parents and program volunteers told council that Howard’s Healthy Choices was locked out during an active summer program at Briggs (Greenwood) Library; speakers said children were sent home mid‑day and urged council to help secure another site so summer and after‑school programs can continue.
Multiple parents, volunteers and organizers told the Trenton City Council on Aug. 7 that Howard’s Healthy Choices was evicted from Briggs (Greenwood) Library while children were in the building, leaving parents to scramble for childcare and forcing the program to suspend its summer programming.
Tonetta Howard, program director, said staff had appropriate licenses and had long run summer and after‑school programming at the location. “I was in that building for 5 years with no heat or hot water. I put the heat and hot water in there for those 5 years,” Howard said, and described the eviction as traumatic for children and parents.
Lorna Walker, who described herself as working closely with Howard, said a judge at a recent hearing recommended allowing the program to remain open through Aug. 29 to complete the summer program but that the group needs a longer‑term solution for after‑school services that had been scheduled to begin in September. “We are unsure as to what the next steps will be,” Walker told the council, and asked city leaders for help identifying a replacement site and continuity for services.
Parents at the microphone described Howard’s programs as pivotal to their children’s academic progress and daily care. One parent said five of her six children attended and credited Howard’s instruction and supervision with reading and behavioral improvements. William Love, a volunteer, urged the council to fund pilot programs across neighborhoods and praised Howard’s long record of volunteer and educational work.
Council members and other speakers acknowledged the program’s role for children and urged administration and city staff to seek alternative space or other short‑term solutions while legal and property disputes are resolved. The council emphasized it did not direct the eviction and encouraged the administration to work with the program to minimize harm to children and families.
No formal council action was recorded on the eviction during the Aug. 7 session; multiple council members said they will pursue follow‑up with staff and the legal and housing departments to identify alternatives for the program and to better coordinate oversight of community spaces.
