Nest gives thanks for program success

Earlier this year, things didn’t look so good for the scores of students taking part in Apalachicola’s Project Impact after-school program.

The program, which was run under the auspices of a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant that had been awarded to the city of Apalachicola, had come up short in points awarded when it came time to renew their five-year funding.

Director Nadine Kahn was told that an appeal would likely push the program over the top for its annual funding, but it would mean that it would be a lengthy process and that the program would have to remain shuttered after its grant funding ran out last summer.

Thanks to the efforts of Apalachicola Mayor Brenda Ash, City Manager Travis Wade and other committed city officials, as well as a push from State Sen. Corey Simon, a deal was worked out with the other after-school program in the county, the Nest. That program had been serving Eastpoint and Carrabelle, and was also funded by a 21st Century grant awarded a few years ago to the United Methodist Church in Eastpoint.

The Nest’s director, Stephanie Howze, was able to hire Kahn, and some of the Project Impact staff, and incorporate many, but not all, of the Apalachicola school kids who found themselves without an after-school program.

In addition, the county allocated money to the program, and the city waived thousands of dollars in fees, and other costs. 

But, there were no additional funds from 21st Century, so the newly enlarged Nest has to make due with its existing $700,000 annual budget to meet the needs, and the government requirements, of a population that now has a 30-child waiting list for the program, which runs pretty much year-round. 

On the days before Thanksgiving, it was time to be grateful, and Howze and her staff certainly were. 

The Carrabelle Food Pantry had donated turkeys, green beans and dinner rolls, and the Carrabelle IGA dressing, with Brooke O’Neal and Sherry Nobles and several other volunteers assisting in the preparation and the cleanup following the gathering in the former Apalachicola High School gym, now part of the city’s municipal complex.