(File Photo of State Representative Rob Matzie Speaking)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Ambridge, PA) State Representative Rob Matzie announced today that two grants totaling nearly $750,000 from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) will support new and improved programs aimed at steering Beaver County youth away from high-risk behaviors and onto a path for academic success. Matzie expressed that a $446,627 grant to Keystone Wellness Programs will fund expanding the Drug Free Aliquippa Youth Coalition to strengthen Aliquippa Impact’s afterschool and summer programs and launching a cross-age mentoring initiative to connect high school coalition leaders with elementary school students. Matzie also confirmed that a second grant of $296,300 to the Aliquippa School District will allow it to launch “The Healthy Minds Club,” which is a comprehensive afterschool program focused on helping grade school students overcome learning barriers. The funding to the Keystone Wellness Programs was awarded under PCCD’s Violence Intervention Program, and the funding to the Aliquippa School District was awarded under PCCD’s Building Opportunities Through Out-of-School Time program.