St. Luke Community Day celebrates summer, CONNECT program expansion

With hot dogs sizzling on the grill and games and activities for youth, St. Luke Community Day kicked off an expansion of Henrico County's CONNECT program.
Designed for youth in at-risk communities, CONNECT offers a variety of after-school and summer programs and supports, including help with homework, enrichment opportunities, mentorship and guidance for healthy conflict resolution.
Henrico's enhanced support for the youth of St. Luke Apartments began in February with after-school programming on Wednesdays. St. Luke Community Day, held June 26, marked the summer's start of the CONNECT program, with programming three days a week.
CONNECT at St. Luke is poised to grow to five days a week this fall thanks to $1.2 million in state funding secured over the next two years with support from Sen. Lamont Bagby, who grew up in the community when it was known as Essex Village. The CONNECT+ program will include the standard evidenced-based prevention curriculum for youth as well as resources and services for parents, adults and seniors.
For more information, visit henrico.us/mhds/prevention/.