At Mayor Kenney’s Budget Address last week, there was a special guest: Tadita Convington.
Tadita, a mother of 5, has experienced firsthand how important recreation centers are for Philadelphia youth. She is a volunteer at Vare Recreation Center and her children have been attending the center’s summer camp for years.
“I heard about the programs and decided to send my children there because there aren’t many programs for teens,” says Tadita. “These programs teach kids how to work together, and even gives them job opportunities.”
Tadita began volunteering at the Rec Center, along with her aunt, because she loved the programs and saw that the center was understaffed.
“My aunt and I started off volunteering to go on field trips and with the programs because they only had one or two adults for 40-60 teens. We wanted to help keep it leveled.”
During the Mayor’s Budget Address, Tadita was glad to hear the Mayor share why investing in rec centers, parks, and libraries is so important to the future of our city.
“The future of our children is important. If you don’t think about the children, it’s a problem,” says Tadita. “I remember when they closed a bunch of rec centers and I thought, ‘What are the kids supposed to do without these programs?’ Lots of children are on the streets or incarcerated and it destroys their lives. These programs help keep them out of these situations.”
The Rebuilding Community Infrastructure initiative invests in our parks, libraries and rec centers. These investments are critical because they reduce crime, create jobs, expand after-school programs, and even end up improving student attendance and high school GPA.