Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Junell | NEW LONDON, N.C. – North Carolina National Guard Soldiers, Community Leaders and...... read more read more
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NEW LONDON, N.C. - Soldiers, Community Leaders and Tarheel Challenge Academy (TCA) Staff came together for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new female barracks at the TCA in New London, North Carolina on Aug. 12, 2016.
The new barracks, known as Veteran’s Hall, will host up to 50 students, giving the academy more opportunities to turn around the lives of North Carolina’s at-risk youth.
North Carolina National Guard Lt. Col. Maury Williams the director of the Tarheel Challenge Youth Academy at New London said he hopes the new building will help to illuminate the sustainability of the program.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Williams said. “We’re going to continue to grow and we have great facilities to assist us in trying to redirect trouble teenage youth.”
The new building was supported by the State Employee’s Credit Union Foundation, which gives back to the community by funding high impact projects in the areas of housing, education, healthcare and human services.
The SECU Foundation had given the Academy $500,000 to build Veteran’s Hall with money they collect through the bank’s $1 checking account fee.
James Johnson, the chairman of the SECU Foundation, said the idea of funding the building was unanimously approved when it was presented to the board.
“SECU members see the academy’s program as a great opportunity to give our state’s young citizens a second chance,” Johnson said. “The Tarheel Challenge is a leader in guiding at risk young women and men and equipping them with the tools they need to succeed in what is getting to be a very complex world.”
The new barracks brings the Academy closer to their goal in being able to serve 200 students per class. Their maximum capacity before Veteran’s Hall was 150 cadets.
“Our goal is to be able to graduate 200 cadets per class,” Williams said. “Our first class graduated 50 cadets, right now I currently have 70 cadets in class two and we already have 114 applications for class three which starts in November. We’re going to continue to grow. I’m going to get to 200 within the next couple of years, you can believe that.”
| Date Taken: | 08.16.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.16.2016 11:49 |
| Story ID: | 207275 |
| Location: | NEW LONDON, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 124 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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