United Way Of Greater Newark Launches ‘Youth Program Locator’

NEWARK, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of the United Way of Greater Newark. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

United Way of Greater Newark’s Newark Thrives! Program announced the relaunch of its Youth Program Locator tool to provide youth and families access to all quality Out-of-School-Time (OST) youth development programs in their neighborhoods.

“We’re so excited to invite parents, students, and Out-of-School-Time program providers to

engage with our newly deployed Youth Program Locator,” said Justin Artenant, UWGN Senior Manager of Newark Thrives! “Students are back to school and are looking for things to do when the bell rings at the end of the school day. Our Youth Program Locator is here as a trusted and valuable resource.”

The program locator allows students and parents to break down a virtual map detailing OST programs throughout Newark by a variety of topics including grades served, days offered, time offered, enrollment types, ward, and program types, categories and topics. The Youth Program Locator is designed to help students find the right OST program for them and has translation options for numerous languages including Spanish and Portuguese. OST programs can be added to the Youth Program Locator by applying online at https://newarkthrivesuw.org/add-your-program/. For more information, contact Artenant at jartenant@uwnewark.org.

The Youth Program Locator’s launch coincides with the nationwide Lights On Afterschool Campaign, which takes place from October 17 – 20 and will have Newark as one of its featured cities. Newark’s Camden Street Elementary School will be honored on Oct. 20 from 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. by the After-School All-Stars of New Jersey. The program will include an afternoon of scholars taking action with a community need in mind. Camden Street Elementary School is one of more than 9,000 sites nationwide participating in this initiative to spread the message that afterschool programs are key to children’s success.

“Providing students in the City of Newark with engaging and enriching Out-of-School-Time programming is crucial in guiding the future leaders of our communities,” United Way of Greater Newark President & CEO Catherine Wilson said. “UWGN is excited to work with our community-based organizations and participate in the nationwide Lights On Afterschool movement to celebrate after school programs and emphasize the need for quality OST programs in our footprint and beyond.”

UWGN’s Newark Thrives! is the only Expanded Learning System Network in New Jersey. It analyzes the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on education as well as the gaps, inadequacies, and challenges Newark schools are experiencing including teacher retention, meal programs, and mental health services. Newark Thrives! helps find solutions to these inequities. Out-of-School-Time youth development programs play a pivotal role in addressing some of these gaps.

“At a certain point, this becomes a conversation about equity in education,” said Artenant, who was recently selected for the White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellowship by the Riley Institute at Furman University. “Many programs that offer young people incredible services may not own the building that they occupy, and that can cause significant strains on scheduling programs or be able to pivot when and how they need to. Newark Thrives! is here to collaborate and convene with those youth-serving organizations that participate and run out of school time programming.”

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