Albany church group hosting summer camp for low-income families

Any parents interested in registering their kids can sign up at artportunityknocks.org. For more information call 678-355-8734. The camp will start at the First Albany Deliverance Cathedral on Monday, June 5th.

ALBANY, Ga. – A south Albany church is lending a hand to low income families this summer when it comes to making sure their kids stay on top of their education.

It’s a program that’s being run for the first time out of the First Albany Deliverance Cathedral, called the STEAM academy.

And for New Visions Community Development executive director, Andrea Revills, a summer program like this is aimed squarely at helping families who might not be able to afford it otherwise.

“…What it is a STEAM summer camp, where low income families have the opportunity to send their children to a summer camp, without worrying about the cost being too much and out of range. Especially if they have multiple children,” said Revills.

The goal of the camp is to provide structure to these kids through classes on subjects such as visual arts, drama, and coding to name a few…

With the goal being to stunt any learning loss over the summer months.

And it’s something Revills has been trying to slow down since before the pandemic took place.

“Prior to the pandemic, new visions and the church, we always had a free summer program that was for whoever. Whether the parents made a lot of money or no money. Whether they had one child or ten. It’s always been here. And again, we strive to give back to our community,” said Revills.

In addition to the structure, there’s another aspect that Revills says they’re providing to these kids…

Providing food that might not be available to them at home.

“We’ll be providing the kids with nourishing meals. So the parents, they can work and not have to worry if they have to get their kids there early. We have breakfast for them, as well as a wholesome hot lunch also, every day that they’re attending,” said Revills.

And new visions is hoping that as many who find themselves in a low-income situation hear about the camp, that they sign up soon.

“For the most part, we want to encourage people to sign up, we do have limited space. We only have about 50 spots. Again, it’s free for those who qualify, and listen, they still need to register. Because they may think they don’t qualify, but you’d be surprised that there may be opportunities…” said Revills.

While space will be limited, Revills says that new visions will be able to help these families with an opportunity they might not have gotten otherwise.

Any parents interested in registering their kids can sign up at artportunityknocks.org.

For more information call 678-355-8734.

The camp will start at the First Albany Deliverance Cathedral on Monday, June 5th.

Brian Roche reporting.

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