19 Sep NOC should be invited in rather than asked to leave our communities
If you have been reading about Hilton Head Island community wanting to get rid of the Neighborhood Outreach Connection, you will understand how it has noting to do with the program and the good work it is doing for some of our neediest children.
We have two such centers in Beaufort, one at the Housing Authorities Marsh Gardens behind the BiLo and the other at Parkview Apartments just off of Ribaut Road behind the Beaufort County Law Enforcement Center. I have been privileged to visit both and can attest to how they have been embraced by families whose children need that extra little bit of attention beyond what schools and parents can give them.
Studies show that students who might have fallen through the cracks are achieving beyond what some might expect and in some case becoming leaders in the classes due to the attention they receive after school, on the weekends and during the summer.
Paid for through private and not government dollars, NOC should be wanted by every community as it makes a difference in the lives of our children, their futures and the community.
The following is a letter which, among the controversy on Hilton Head island was written by the founder and director of NOC.
http://www.islandpacket.com/opinion/op-ed/article101345127.html