Two youth-oriented groups in Chester are benefitting from community grants from the William Penn Foundation promoting projects and programs along multi-use trails in the Circuit Trails Network, reports the Circuit Trails Coalition.

Ten groups total received one-year or two-year grants of $1,000 to $10,000 per year for projects and activities that range from tree plantings and bike riding lessons to art installations.

The 9^th Street Youth & Community Center Environmental Youth Corps program in Chester received a grant to fund activities along the Chester Creek Trail in Eyre Park.

Activities will include tree planting, tree tending, tree maintenance, summer habitat projects, adding basketball equipment, installing picnic tables, and hosting mentoring and life skills workshops.

The 9^th Street Youth & Community Center serves Chester’s youth, empowering them to reach their full potential academically, socially, and spiritually in a safe environment.

The 9^th Street Youth & Community Center Environmental Youth Corps serves 10 to 15 students annually.

Chester Upland Youth Soccer received a grant supporting its bike rodeo program, which takes place twice a year.

The grant will cover riding lessons, bicycle safety, and activities encouraging people to maximize health and wellness benefits while enjoying Chester’s Delaware Riverfront Trail and the Eyre Park Levee Walk along Chester Creek in Delaware County.

Chester Upland Youth Soccer strengthens the communities it serves by mentoring youth, engaging families, and promoting healthy living by providing after-school and weekend soccer programming, mentorship, and nutrition education for children in the traditionally underserved, suburban Philadelphia communities of Chester, Upland, and Eddystone.

Beyond soccer, its Youth Development United division provides soccer families with access to martial arts, dance, career discovery, and cycling.

The Grant Program

The Circuit Trails Coalition and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) launched the Circuit Trails Coalition Community Grant Program with funding from the William Penn Foundation.

The program invests in community organizations to support neighborhood priorities through engagement, activities and increased access to the region’s trail network.

The grant program seeks to create a more welcoming and inclusive experience on the region’s trails and to encourage trail use among neighborhoods that the trail network serves.

It was created following recommendations from under-resourced and under-served communities as part of the Circuit Trails Coalition’s 2020 Equity of Access to Trails study.

The awarded projects are launching this month and will continue in 2023 and 2024.

Read more about these Circuit  Trails community organization grants at The Circuit Trails.

Learn more about Chester Upland Youth Soccer.