In a project proposal for the Women’s Giving Fund High Impact Grant, the Youth Sports Alliance is focusing on continuing to expand into Summit County’s East Side.
The Youth Sports Alliance provides outdoor recreational opportunities for children, and its proposal is aiming to help solve what the nonprofit says are disparities between eastern Summit County and western Summit County.
“When we sort of dipped into our research, we found that the east side of the county has different health statistics than the west side of the county,” said Emily Fisher, executive director of the Youth Sports Alliance. “The east side, the obesity rates are 33% higher and their life expectancy is seven years shorter.”
ith its grant proposal, the Youth Sports Alliance is aiming to hire additional staff to expand its after-school opportunities in the North Summit and South Summit school districts as well as in the Weilenmann School of Discovery. Additionally, it is proposing to launch a mentoring program.
The YSA said that its project would provide after-school experiences to 1,413 additional children. The organization has offered after-school opportunities to students in the Park City area for 10 years now, even through a pandemic this past year. The YSA had 52 programs that served 1,546 students, according to Fisher.
By introducing more students to its programming, the YSA is hoping to increase the quality of life for children in eastern Summit County and lead them to healthier lives.
“We know that active kids go on to become active adults,” Fisher said. “We also know that active kids do better in school, have less physical ailments as they get older, less mental issues as they get older, so we just want to try to be able to run those programs and have them available for all the kids in Summit County.”
“As we go into the COVID recovery phase, I really think it’s important that, you know, kids have opportunities to be kids and get outside and have fun,” Fisher said.
The Youth Sports Alliance is one of three finalists for the grant, along with EATS Park City and Jewish Family Services. Members of the Women’s Giving Fund will vote on the finalists before giving the winner $40,000 to use for its proposal.
“We’re just so excited to be a finalist,” said Fisher. “It’s definitely an honor to make it to that round and an honor to be finalists alongside with EATS Park City and Jewish Family Services. There’s so many incredible nonprofits in town, so to make it to the finals is great.”