Want to support our work? Contact your representatives about this bill

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We’re grateful to announce that Senator David Senjem (R) and Representative Nels Pierson (R) have introduced a bipartisan bill (SF1223/HF1089) that would provide approximately $400,000 in funding to Project Legacy programs.

About our work

Project Legacy provides hope, connections and support to youth and young adults of color who are refugees, homeless, formerly gang-involved or recently incarcerated allowing them to transform their lives and become contributing members of our community.

We are unique among other organizations for a number of reasons — throughout our years serving young people, we have learned that jobs and education are about 70% of what youth need to redirect their lives. The other 30% is a mixture of therapeutic and support services.

At Project Legacy, we require our youth to actively participate in the development of a positive plan for their future, which includes education, career development and therapy to address past trauma. We also require our youth make a commitment to becoming and remaining substance-free.

Many of our young people struggle with the lack of a positive support system as well as lack of resources, and yet, tantamount to our approach is the belief that when youth are surrounded with love, affection, kindness and support, they will heal and flourish.

The bill’s impact

The one-time appropriation of $400,000 that this bill would provide would allow our organization to provide mental health care, medical care, chemical dependency intervention, housing and mentoring and counseling for first generation college students. And if this bill is passed, the funding would be imperative for our program’s sustainability and long-term impact for years to come.

Our organization has over a decade of success integrating or re-integrating our program graduates back into society. They contribute to the tax base, labor force and volunteer community. They are raising families, becoming leaders in their communities and creating positive change. By the numbers, this means:

  • 8 college degrees earned in 2018

  • 5 college degrees anticipated in 2019

  • 2 participants have enrolled in graduate school in 2019

  • All first-generation college students (first in their families to attend college)

  • 5 participants completed substance use disorder treatment in 2018

  • 24 participants are currently enrolled in college

  • 14 middle school girls and 12 middle school boys currently involved in programming

  • Newly designed and implemented volunteer mental health therapy program consisting of a network of licensed therapists providing therapy for Project Legacy youth

And now, we need your help.

To help secure the funding of this bill, we urge you to contact your representatives to express your support of our work and to request a hearing in the House. You can find your representative by visiting this link to let them know you support Bill SF1223/HF1089 that would provide funding and support to Project Legacy.

By providing hope, connections and support to youth and young adults of color, we know this funding would ensure we can continue to provide, and grow, this level of support to the young people in our community for years to come.

And when we do, we know incredible things will happen: Lives transformed, dreams awakened, legacies created.

Thank you for your support.

Contact your representatives today.

Karen Edmonds