75B - PH - CDBG PROGRAM 13-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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III. PROGRAM/PROJECT DESCRIPTION-DETAIL In the space below, describe the program/project. Include information as to how the program/project will benefit _ low-income peopiemouseholas. (max. char. zuuu) Project PRIDE provides positive alternatives for youth through recreation/volunteer activities that provide opportunities for all family members to engage in recreational activities and to make meaningful contributions to their communities. Family PRIDE Clubs meet regularly at eight sites in Santa Ana, including Santa Ana Senior Center, Roosevelt Elementary School, Southwest Senior Center, and El Salvador, Salgado, Memorial, Santa Anita, and Logan Recreation Centers. Family PRIDE Clubs participate in interactive activities and learn the importance of family recreation as a way to build strong families and prevent problem behaviors. Club members plan and produce a Family Picnic, Family Campout, Arts & Crafts Competition, and Volunteer Recognition Ceremony. Club members participate and volunteer in city-wide events, including the Madison Park Walk-A-Thon & Resource Fair, Cesar Chavez Community Fair, Health & Fitness Fair, Townsend/Raitt Community Resource Fair, and the annual end of summer talent show. Club members engage in volunteer community service projects. They assist with program fundraisers, with recreation and senior center activities, and with community clean-up and graffiti removal projects. The PRIDE Kayaking Program trains/prepares teens to participate in local, county, state, and national tournaments. Teens receive rigorous training on the water and in the weight room to develop strength, endurance, and racing skills. Teen Kayakers represent the City of Santa Ana in local and regional tournaments. The program serves teens who are selected based on school referrals. The Gardening Component will teach youths and their families to adopt healthy food habits such as planning, preparing and sharing meals using food grown in their own gardens. A series of workshops will teach PRIDE families how to create home-based and/or community gardens in their yard, patio, or balcony and how to use the food produced in healthy family meals. IV. STATEMENT OF NEED In the space below, describe why this program/project is needed. Include information as to any effects if CDBG funds are not awarded and whether similar programs/projects are available in the community, (max. char. 2000) Santa Ana has the highest poverty rate in Orange County, as well as one of the highest unemployment rates in the State. Santa Ana's residents are some of the youngest in the country among cities with populations over 100,000, with a median age of 29.3 years. Approximately 30.7% of Santa Ana's residents are under 18. Santa Ana has one of the highest obesity rates among California residents with over 70% of adults and 35% of children being overweight or obese malting Santa Ana the second worst in the State in terms of fitness. The low-income status of Santa Ana residents prevents them from accessing recreational venues that are generally expensive and clearly, this population needs to increase its level of physical fitness and healthy habits to combat the high rates of obesity and the problems associated with being overweight. Santa Ana's youth face many obstacles in addition to low income and health problems such as high density, low academic achievement, language barriers, and neighborhoods with high rates of gang and drug activity. These risk factors invariably lead young people in Santa Ana to get involved in gangs and other negative behaviors. Project PRIDE connects youths to their family through recreation and volunteerism that brings recognition for the entire family and helps families to learn and practice healthy behaviors, both physically and socially. There is no other program in Santa Ana that addresses these issues for the entire family. Without Project PRIDE, hundreds of youths and their families will not have access to recreational activities that create positive bonding within the family and to their community. They will continue to engage in unhealthy habits and negative behavior that create a burden to the Santa Ana commur_ity. 75B-52