NEW YORK – As part of New York City FC’s ongoing commitment to community initiatives, it’s recently established charity foundation, City in the Community (CITC), has partnered with The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office which has awarded CITC with funding to expand their Saturday Night Lights (“SNL”) initiative.
SNL seeks to reduce youth violence and increase successful completion of schooling for kids who live or go to school in Manhattan by providing, free of charge, at-risk teens with safe recreational spaces and better access to academic resources and opportunities.
City in the Community provides soccer programming for SNL and through their work with the DA’s Office, the SNL soccer program has expanded to additional sites, operating at full capacity for two nights a week, including an all-girls program.
The ongoing success of the program, which started in 2011 with just one program, has prompted Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. to announce its expansion to 17 programs across Manhattan in 2016.
New York City FC Director of Community Development, Paul Jeffries, said:
“City in the Community is thrilled to play an integral role in the Manhattan DA’s expansion of the Saturday Night Lights program. Through the SNL soccer program we provide after school tutoring, character education, and physical activity for over 200 kids a week. We have seen young people graduate from the program and go on to be assistant coaches and leaders who give back to their local community. As we help expand this program, we are proud to provide these opportunities to more kids across our City.”
New York City District Attorney, Cyrus R. Vance, said:
“The belief that a crime prevented is far better than a crime prosecuted resulted in the creation of Saturday Night Lights – the cornerstone of my Office’s diversion and crime prevention programming. Programs l like Saturday Night Lights not only build trust between community members and law enforcement, but give at-risk teens a safe place and healthy environment during the hours when violence is most prevalent in their neighborhoods. This cost-efficient, crime fighting strategy has impacted the lives of thousands of teens across Manhattan, and we will now be able to help thousands more in the coming years through our expanded initiative.”
For a full list of SNL sites and programming under the expansion, or to enroll a child, visit the Manhattan DA’s website: http://manhattanda.org/
