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Congressman Tim Holden announces $200,000 for Messiah College’s
Harrisburg Institute to create citywide mentoring network for at-risk youths

	Congressman Tim Holden (top center), shown here with a group of students from Messiah College, announced $200,000 in federal funding on Nov. 21 for Messiah College's Harrisburg Institute to create the "Youth Empowerment Initiative," a citywide mentoring network for at-risk youths. Click on image to download print-quality version

GRANTHAM, Pa. (Nov. 23, 2005) - Congressman Tim Holden announced $200,000 in federal funding for Messiah College’s Harrisburg Institute for Community Research and Collaborative Partnerships to be used for its “Youth Empowerment Initiative,” a new community-based research project that will create a citywide mentoring network for at-risk youths. Holden announced the appropriation to Messiah College faculty, students and administrators and other community leaders at a check presentation on Monday afternoon, Nov. 21, held at Grace United Methodist Church in Harrisburg.

The Harrisburg Institute will provide assessment, program design and training to community organizations that will offer mentoring programs to at-risk youth in the Harrisburg region. The network will recruit and train college students and other volunteers for community mentoring programs that impact juvenile delinquency by improving at-risk youth’s academic skills, school attendance and lowering their transition time from alternative school settings to regular school day programs.

Dr. David Hietala, director of the Harrisburg Institute, and Dr. Joseph Jones, dean of the Messiah College School of Education and Social Sciences, officially accepted the funding on behalf of Messiah College. Holden also acknowledged the sponsorship of Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum in appropriation of the funding for the Harrisburg Institute.

The mission of Messiah’s Harrisburg Institute is to develop strategies and solutions that address urban community concerns and help students, educators and community partners in the capital region learn from each other. Messiah’s long-term goal, working together with the City of Harrisburg, is to establish the Institute as a premier regional model for the partnership between higher education and community partners in the Harrisburg region.

Messiah College, a private Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, enrolls more than 2,900 undergraduate students in 50 majors. Established in 1909, the primary campus is located in Grantham, Pa., near the state capital of Harrisburg.

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ARTICLE DATE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2005
ARTICLE NUMBER: MC-135-05