NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — When he got the call, it renewed a years-long journey for Lamont Finley.
“When I found out that we actually were one of the few chosen, I kind of cried because it’s one of those things where I see this vision, and I want to re-educate what people think about mentoring programs are for," Finley said.
Tuesday, city leaders in Newport News awarded more than $1.75 million worth of grant investment to 19 anti-gun violence organizations and initiatives for the city.
For Finley, one of those chosen grantees, a grant of approximately $100,000 restarted a passion project that had been put on hold for years.
“We were limited in scope, initially, and doing it because it was coming out of pocket," he said.
In the early 2010s, Finley started a youth mentorship and physical fitness program called "Boxing 2 Live", where he'd partnered with public schools in Newport News to maintain a positive influence in kids' lives.
“With me, we want our youth to live life on purpose. 'Boxing 2 Live' is just to prepare them to live for that fight where they’re in in the community and world," he said.
The program took a pause after years of backing from his and his wife's personal finances. Now, the latest grant helped Finley restart the program, with the goal of getting into two local high schools this academic school year.
"It was so surreal. We had never written a grant of this magnitude. It was all new to us," Hakima Muhammad said, founder of the "Sister to Sister" Resource Center in the southeast community of the city.
Muhammad received $100,100 to expand and continue the work of her resource center. An official press release from the city detailed the idea for what that investment would go toward:
Support for the Youth, Teaching Technology, Expanding Education, and Cultivation of Creativity (Y-TEC) program, which encourages healthy relationship building, improves self-esteem and social skills, and teaches youth to manage conflicts peacefully. The inclusion of a technology component enhances critical thinking, explores technological competencies, prepares youth for a competitive job market, and promotes equity.
"Now I can do more. We did things before, but now I can do more. Where we were on a shoestring budget, we have a budget to actually bring in technology, or expand places where we can go," she said.
The programming offered by the 19 funded initiatives is intended to run until the end of June 2023.