Funding for Foster Laurie comes partly from private donors and partly from the government, and, as Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans) put it, “both are hemmorhaging dollars right now.”
Meeks said he is working to find new donors who can provide enough to keep Foster Laurie afloat, and community members are asking elected officials to allocate some of their discretionary funds to the center.
Residents and officials staged a rally at the facility March 8, urging that it be kept open. “I love PAL,” read one of many handwritten signs held by children at the event. “[Please] let PAL stay open.”
If Foster Laurie closes, Meeks said, “it’ll have a devastating effect.”
PAL’s mission is to keep young people in the five boroughs out of trouble by offering them recreational, cultural and athletic opportunities.
About 125 children attend Foster Laurie’s after-school program, and Meeks said the center is vital for many families in the area, since parents in southeast Queens often work full-time in Manhattan, commuting up to two hours each way, and therefore can’t be home to take care of their kids in the afternoons.
Foster Laurie’s after-school program, which has a $25-per-semester registration fee, is the only child care option many families in the area can afford, according to Henry Foster, whose children and grandchildren have attended the program.
Foster, who is not related to the center’s namesake, said that if it closes, “parents will have to make some serious choices, particularly single-parent families. What does a mother do when she has to decide between her job and coming home to be with her children after school?”
If children are left alone after school, they’re liable to get into trouble, Meeks said. If parents stop working full time to be home for their kids, family income will decrease.
“There’s no other facility that can be the substitute for Foster Laurie,” Meeks said. The local library, which would have been an alternative “safe haven” for kids, is closed for reconstruction; and a school which has traditionally offered after-school programs is unable to accommodate more children.
Foster Laurie would need to raise at least $100,000 in order to remain open, according to Foster. Some at the recent rally held signs saying the number is $300,000.
Community members also have been circulating petitions urging the PAL and political leaders to find a way to keep the center open. So far more than 1,000 signatures have been collected, and various elected officials are trying to scrounge up additional funding.
Several officeholders, including state Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Laurelton) and City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), attended the rally.
Foster, who started the petition, said he has suggested several ways Foster Laurie could reduce operating costs, including encouraging senior citizens and unemployed parents to volunteer at the center.
Meeks said he is optimistic that Foster Laurie can attract sufficient funds to stay open.
“The community has come together like never before, working with elected officials,” he said. “As long as we can stay togther and stay focused, then hope is alive.”
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