WASHINGTON – Programs designed to help low-income students improve their performance and reduce the high school drop-out rate will be operated in 10 states with $500,000 in Department of Housing and Urban Development grants administered by Communities In Schools (CIS), the nation’s largest stay-in-school network.

The grants to CIS programs range from $2,000 to $25,000 and will be used as seed money to increase services to youth and their families in economically challenged communities. These grants target Empowerment Zone communities, Enterprise Communities and sites in or near public housing or HUD-assisted housing sites.

The $500,000 in grants announced today are provided through HUD’s existing grant with Communities in Schools. The funding will go to a variety of programs to reduce the high school drop-out rate, give students a marketable job skill, and expand local programs to reach more at-risk students.

HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo and CIS President Bill Milliken announced the funding.

"HUD’s partnership with CIS has brought needed services to more than 1 million students, helping them to stay in school, get an education, learn job skills and transform their lives," Cuomo said.

"This collaboration between CIS and HUD supports young people because we know they’re the heart of community development," said CIS Founder and President Bill Milliken. "HUD has a long-term vision to transform underserved communities, and we are proud to be a partner in their efforts."

As the nation’s largest stay-in-school organization, CIS serves as the conduit for providing support services to students. These services include health care, tutoring, teen counseling, mentoring and other programs to increase their self-esteem and interest in learning. Each CIS program is tailored to serve local needs as determined by the community, whether it be job training or anti-drug efforts.

CIS has 154 local programs in 32 states and the District of Columbia. More than 1 million students and their families have access to CIS services in 243 districts. The funding announced today will go to:

FLORIDA
Leon County - $19,402: Establishes a Cisco Networking Academy Program at Godby High School which offers access to students and adults through an Adult and Community Education Program.
Hialeah - $25,000: Establishes programming at Hoffman Gardens, a HUD development, in conjunction with the Hialeah Housing Authority Drug Prevention Rehabilitation Task Force.
Lee County - $25,000: Establishes a new Communities In Schools Program in Lee County.

GEORGIA
Fitzgerald-Ben Hill - $25,000: Expands literacy initiatives to community-based sites at the public library and at the Fitzgerald Public Housing Authority Community Resources and Technology Center. Focuses on the linkage of the initiative to technology opportunities available at center.
Colquitt County - $22,914: Enhances after-school programs, including tutoring at the library and the Moultrie Housing Authority Neighborhood Network Center.
Albany-Dougherty  - $25,000: Enhances special programs at the housing Safe Haven site by offering an array of opportunities and access to technology throughout the spring and summer.

ILLINOIS
Springfield - $25,000: Establishes a new Communities In Schools Program.

MISSISSIPPI
Greenwood-LeFlore - $19,598: Establishes a Mid-Delta Empowerment Zone and Itta Bena Community Center, one block from housing site that will provide access to computers and computer training that will enhance future career and educational opportunities.

NEW JERSEY
CIS of New Jersey - $18,000: Will support creation of new CIS programs in southern New Jersey in the communities of Trenton, Bridgeton, Camden and Atlantic County.

NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte-Mecklenburg - $25,000: Faith-based collaboration working with AME churches in enterprise communities to provide a network computer lab for increased access to computers and computer training.
Rowan County - $25,000: Establishes a Cisco Networking Academy in conjunction with the housing authority at North Rowan High School. CNAP will be available in the evenings to adults, offering an educational opportunity for dropouts and youth attending alternative schools.
Rocky Mount Region - $25,000: Provides for the coordination and collaboration of services needed following disaster issues still facing residents of the Edgecombe County EZ in or near the public housing site of West End Terrace.
Transylvania County - $24,991: Establishes the Davidson River Center offering a computer lab and career center for students and their community.
Whiteville - $25,000: Establishes a new Communities in Schools program in Whiteville.

PENNSYLVANIA
Fayette County - $25,000: Replicates CIS services for school-community collaboration within the enterprise community for middle school students living in two HUD public housing communities.
Philadelphia - $25,000: Expands the Youth Enterprise Education Project, an entrepreneurial training and business start-up program to schools that serve a high percentage of low-income students residing in EZ communities.

SOUTH CAROLINA - $21,000: Continues expansion of local school-community collaborations into John’s Island, an impoverished area within Charleston County.

TEXAS
Baytown - $25,000: Provides a coordinator to ensure the school-community works in conjunction with Baytown Housing Authority to support strategies targeting at-risk students within the empowerment zone.
Fort Hood - $25,000: Expands services to Hector Garcia elementary School which is considered to be one of the most at-risk campuses with a high concentration of students and families living in HUD housing.
Denton County - $25,000: - Expands services to reach children from two HUD subsidized apartment complexes.

WEST VIRGINIA
Huntington, Cabell County - $25,000: Establishes a new Communities In Schools Program.