BEOF to receive more than $1.5 million in federal funding for preschool program – NJ.com

BAYONNE — The city’s Economic Opportunity Foundation (BEOF) will receive more than $1.5 million in federal funding for early childhood education programs.

The funding, allocated from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will go towards the city’s Head Start Initiative, a federal program started in 1965 that provides comprehensive child development programs for low-income children and their families.

U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez last week announced that $23 million will be allocated to three organizations in the state, including The Leaguers in Essex County and Tri-County Community Action Inc. in Cumberland County.

The BEOF will receive a total of $1,529,894.

“In New Jersey, Head Start programs have provided engaging opportunities for our youngest students to create, learn, and explore,” Booker said in a release. “This federal funding will help provide students the tools they need to reach their full potential and succeed well into the future.”

BEOF Executive Director Samantha Howard said the funding will “enable the BEOF to bring comprehensive after-school programs and extended learning opportunities to the youth of Bayonne.”

The organization’s Head Start program serves more than 150 children in the city.

“This financial blessing comes at the most opportune time as BEOF is currently doing renovations on and remodeling the former Holy Family Academy as its new location for the Bayonne Head Start Program,” she added.

The BEOF provides a wide range of services to assist low-income, handicapped and senior citizens, and serve as a community hub for many state and federal initiatives.

The city has supported the Head Start program for more than five decades, according to Mayor Jimmy Davis.

Davis thanked Sens. Menendez and Booker for “their strong support of the Head Start program in Bayonne, the state, and the nation.”

Corey W. McDonald may be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @coreymacc. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.