Project Focus hosts homecoming cookout
Project Focus invites members past and present to attend its final cookout 5 p.m. Thursday at the Leak Street Education and Cultural Center before moving to a new location next month.
With Project Focus seeking a new location next month, Restitution and Community Service Coordinator Annie Pratt said Thursday’s cookout is not a somber gathering but a celebration of everything the Leak Street Education and Cultural Center provided as part of a homecoming type event for those who are either part of the program or benefitted from the program.
“We’re not going to worry about that. They made their decision. [The Leak Street Alumni Association] wanted to end it, So we just want to have something for the [participants] … Parents can come, and former clients can come,” said Pratt, who added the event will also provide school supplies to the participants and is free to attend.
Project Focus is a community service program, which accepts referrals from juvenile courts, law enforcement, schools, parents and other agencies within Richmond County. As part of the program, at-risk youths ages 12 through 17 years old can serve up to 100 hours of community serves while also participating in a variety of programs throughout the day.
As clients of Project Focus, at-risk youths can make an immediate impact on their community by volunteering for a variety of Richmond County based not-for-profits. Among them are local parks and recreation departments, The Leak Street Community Center, Kids Cafe, area food banks, the Hermitage Retirement Center and Place of Greace Church, which works to rehabilitate the homeless and those suffering from drug addictions.
Project Focus also provides an after school program providing fitness, life skills training homework assistance and pet mentoring. Pratt said her proudest moments are not watching a teen or child complete the program, but seeing him or her return as a volunteer to help others out of the same predicament.
“They came through community service, into the after school program and some completed college … It’s awesome, and they always remember you. They say ‘You helped me out. You did this for me.’ And they like coming,” Pratt said.