For the seventh consecutive year, Up2Us Sports has received funding from PennSERVE, Pennsylvania’s state service commission. For the 2022-2023 year, the $214,509 grant will support 16 Up2Us Sports coaches in the North, Northwest, South, and West sections of Philadelphia, as well as economically vulnerable suburbs.
These national service members will be responsible for 1,829 young people served in a variety of athletic and holistic educational development activities that are designed to improve physical fitness and social dexterity, with the ultimate goal of leveraging these improvements to better themselves and their community.
Since 2016, PennSERVE has provided grants for 93 service members, who have served 7,196 youth throughout the state of Pennsylvania.
“For the last several years, PennSERVE and Up2Us Sports have transformed the lives of thousands of Philadelphia’s youth through national service and by connecting them with highly-trained Up2Us Sports coach-mentors,” says Jack Callahan, Up2Us Sports’ Senior National Director, AmeriCorps Programs. “We have seen the power that sports and coaches can play in a young person’s life, especially as it relates to their social-emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing. Together, we will continue to advance our shared mission and generate lasting impact throughout Philadelphia.”
As Pennsylvania’s state service commission, PennSERVE is a grantmaking partner of the AmeriCorps agency. AmeriCorps is the federal agency connecting individuals and organizations through service and volunteering to tackle the nation’s most pressing challenges. PennSERVE is a member of America's Service Commissions (ASC), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing and promoting state service commissions across the U.S. Each year, they award approximately $12 million in federal funding from the AmeriCorps agency to AmeriCorps programs in Pennsylvania. They support organizations in AmeriCorps program development and implementation through targeted training, technical assistance, and monitoring.
We are currently actively recruiting coaches and host sites nationwide. If you are interested in becoming a coach-mentor or hosting a coach in the Greater Philadelphia area, please contact dbolden@up2ussports.org.
