Giral: Over $1 million awarded for Harrowgate, Kensington youth programs

Rep. Jose Giral April 15, 2026 | 3:54 PM

PHILADELPHIA, April 15 – Three programs designed to help youth in Harrowgate, Kensington and other Philadelphia neighborhoods cope with exposure to high rates of trauma and community violence will receive over $1 million in state funding, state Rep. Jose Giral, D-Phila., announced today.

The grants awarded in Giral’s district today include:

$500,000 to 12Plus, a college and career readiness nonprofit based in Harrowgate, to expand its program across five high-need public high schools in Philadelphia. Their program aims to reduce youth disconnection and strengthen protective factors for kids living in areas with economic instability and high violence rates, by offering grade-specific programs, individualized mentorship, and relationship-based support to help students transition from high school through post-graduation.
$500,000 to Hopeworks, a Kensington nonprofit that provides paid training in technical skills like web development, GIS and data visualization. The funding will expand their training-to-employment model, which was developed for justice-involved, system-impacted young adults aged 17-26. The program includes consistent adult support and trauma-informed coaching.
$60,000 to PB&J for CultureTrust Philadelphia, a Kensington after-school cooking program that connects youth to supportive adults and local opportunities, and teaches food preparation, nutrition, self-care and safety skills to highly disconnected youth—those experiencing poverty, trauma, justice involvement, foster care, housing instability, disabilities and other risk factors for violence.

“Youth don’t choose the situation they’re born into, and too often we see promising young people fall into violence and crime simply because they’re exposed to it from a young age and they don’t have strong adult support to show them other pathways,” Giral said. “There are many bright young people living in Harrowgate and Kensington, and these grants will allow all three programs to give more of them an opportunity to learn life skills they may not find anywhere else.”

Part of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s Violence Intervention and Prevention grant program, the funding is awarded to initiatives that address community violence in areas of the Commonwealth with high rates of gun-related violent crime and injury.

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