WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A West Palm Beach non-profit organization tasked with helping some of our most vulnerable youth is feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
For 13-year-old Kayvion Johnson, this was not the summer he was expecting.
"Not having contact with people when you try to get to know knew people, you can’t really have that connection," said Kayvion.
His parents agree.
"For them being so young, I want them to be out there doing something, experiencing life. Not stuck in the house playing videos games which is exactly what they did when they first got shutdown and we couldn’t go nowhere," said Brandon Johnson, Kayvion's father.
So when Urban Youth Impact announced they would have a summer camp program, Kayvion’s dad was relieved.
"They helped out with the homework, they included more art programs," Johnson said.
From tutoring to job preparation, the president of Urban Youth Impact said they offer a several free programs to help children from low-income communities succeed. He said COVID-19 made that mission more difficult, they had to cut their admissions in half.
"This is costing our organization a lot more resources to do less work," said Chris Tress, the president of Urban Youth Impact.
And to make matters worse, they recently had to shutdown their camp after a staff member tested positive.
"We shut down until the 31st of this month because that’s going to be the two weeks point and for all of our staff to come back everybody has to have their tests," Tress said.
Tress added they will continue to serve the community and are even adding more classrooms and activities.”
"It’s about these children, it’s about this next generation," Tress said.