{This story is by Bill Pickett.}
Only about a dozen people turned out Thursday evening at Danville’s Laura Lee Fellowship House for an opportunity to suggest how the city should spend over $24-million dollars. It was the second public meeting on ways to spend the American Rescue Plan Act funds Danville is getting because of the pandemic.
Dee Ann Ryan thinks some of the money should go towards new mental programs for kids…
{AUDIO: ‘’Kids and families are not coming to the mental health clinics, or they’re not going to access help in all the traditional ways because of stigma, because of lack of providers. And so we need to train community people and youth workers on how to work effectively with these kids,’’ said Ryan during an interview with VermilionCountyFirst.com News.}
Ryan worked with mental health and youth programs in the county before she retired. She says the pandemic has had a big mental impact on kids….
{AUDIO: ‘’It’s made a bad situation worse, and especially for kids of color. There’s always been a disparity with kids not accessing services – for whatever reason. So we need to meet those kids where they are – in the schools. We need to train people to get in there and work with kids.’’}
One speaker at Thursday evening’s meeting suggested placing trails in some local parks. Laura Lee provides activities for youth ranging from fashion shows to computer programs, but Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr. says he recognizes the need to do more for youth…
{AUDIO: ‘’I think there’s plenty of great things for kids to do during the week. But what I would love to see is more recreational opportunities on the weekends. I think that that could be very good for our young people and for our community,’’ said Mayor Williams.
The Mayor says the suggestions from the two public meetings will be combined with others. It will eventually be up to the Danville City Council to decide how the money should be spent, but the Mayor noted the council members must be careful…
{AUDIO – ‘’You know it’s very limited, and some of the guidelines are not even very clear. So you have to be careful because they can recapture this money,’’ said Mayor Williams. “If we spend it in a way that they say we shouldn’t have, then they come back later and ask for that $3-million dollars that you used – thinking in good faith – but they’re saying it doesn’t count. So you have to be very, very wise with what we do and how we use this money.’’}
The Mayor says the funds must be allocated by December of 2024 and spent by December of 2026. He says he hopes the city council will work out a plan on how to spend it later this year or early next year.
[The photo above was taken at Danville’s Laura Lee Fellowship House on November 18, 2021 during the public comment period.]
