Officials with the Hindman Settlement School in southeastern Kentucky are scrambling to find funding for its reading and math intervention programs for children.
Federal funding for the programs has been eliminated by the Department of Government Efficiency.
Officials were told the cuts are effective immediately. These grant funds are provided through AmeriCorps and represent roughly one-third of the school's annual operating budget.
Will Anderson is the executive director at the Hindman Settlement School. He said this funding is vital to help them extend their services.
“Prior to this Americorp grant, I think we worked with probably 200 maybe less than 200 children a year. With the funds from this grant, just in the reading program alone, we've been working with close to a thousand children.”
He said they have a lot riding on this funding.
“You know, those children depend upon us, those school districts depend on us, and our staff that we've hired to fill these roles, they really rely on that employment. Our hope is that we'll be able to raise those funds through support from the community.”
He said their goal is to raise $250,000. The Hindman Settlement School works with 25 schools in five counties in southeastern Kentucky.
