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Local nonprofits outline rising needs for youth programs, senior meals and re-entry supports
Summary
Thornhill Education Center, the Wanda Joyce Robinson Foundation and the Capital City Activity Center described expanding services, new grants and significant funding gaps—most notably a six-figure shortfall for senior meal programs—asking the Fiscal Court for help and partnerships.
Leaders from three Franklin County nonprofits told the Fiscal Court on Sept. 11 that program demand and recent grant changes have produced urgent funding and partnership needs across education, youth mentoring and senior services.
Kelly Anderson, executive director of Thornhill Education Center, described long-running GED and ESL instruction, jail-based classes, an expanding family literacy initiative and a new drone-certification grant for middle-school students. "We are here to make things better for them with education," Anderson told the court, and said Thornhill is pursuing national recognition as a Family Learning Community.
A presenter identified as Amy (representing the Wanda Joyce Robinson Foundation's work) outlined mentoring and re-entry supports for youth impacted by incarceration: evidence-based mentoring matches, parenting classes in the jail, and a prevention focus she called "upstream" work intended to reduce juvenile justice involvement. Amy said the foundation has developed programs in 24 months that typically take years to build and urged the county to help develop a Boys & Girls Club in Frankfurt.
Marshelle Jenkins, executive director of the Capital City Activity Center, said federal and state funding cuts to nutrition programs have left her center with a six-figure shortfall to sustain meal services for seniors. Jenkins told the court that last year nutrition funding for her center exceeded $558,000 and that this year's allocation is about $342,000, creating a gap she described as roughly $216,000; she later said sustaining services could leave a shortage "of over $198,000." Jenkins warned that without additional funds the center may have to impose a meal wait list for seniors—a step the center has avoided to date—and appealed to the court to seek state-level fixes and local support.
Presenters emphasized cross-agency collaboration: many clients appear in multiple programs (jail, mentoring, food assistance) and speakers urged coordinated responses. Several commissioners acknowledged the need to prioritize finite county dollars and proposed examining state lobbying and grant strategies to address structural funding shortfalls.
