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The Rotary Clubs of Norfolk and Town Center Virginia Beach joined forces to secure a Rotary District 7600 Grant for Next Step To Success. Next Step, a Norfolk-based nonprofit, is working to cut by half the poverty rate in Norfolk where one in four children under age 18 live in poverty. The grant will fund furnishings for a mental wellness room in the Next Step campus where students can decompress and work with counselors. 

Next Step runs a free after-school program for 130 Norfolk Public School students from lower-income families. Next Step staff pick up students, who are ages 13 to 18, from their schools on weekdays during the school year. At the Next Step campus they receive tutoring, counseling, life skills, enrichment activities, and a nutritious dinner. During a free summer camp, Next Step participants continue with tutoring and counseling while learning from experiences, including visiting museums and college campuses and taking swim lessons.

 

Past students who have gone through the Next Step program have all graduated from high school on time and are in college, the military, trade school, or the workforce.

Receiving the grant check is James Harris, Next Step to Success executive director. Also pictured are Liz Bottoni, president of RC of Town Center and Gary Bonnewell, president of RC of Norfolk.