Griffin Center holding open house for its sixth after-school facility in East St. Louis

Griffin Center is holding an open house for its newest after-school facility in East St. Louis.

The new site - the Griffin Center’s sixth - is at Phoenix Court apartments at 628 Hope in the eastern part of the city.

Henrietta Young, director of the Griffin Center, is excited about the open house that will be held Nov. 16 at 11 a.m at Phoenix Court.

“We’re very excited about increasing access to our after-school programs for children who reside in the Phoenix Court apartments. We want to be able to provide safe spots for children so they can continue to learn and have recreation in a safe environment,” Young said.

Young said she is looking forward to the community joining in to celebrate the new after-school programs at Phoenix. She said there will be structural recreational activities, tutors to help children with their academics, and learning labs for subject like computer skills.

Sister Julia Huiskamp, former Griffin Center director who still works for the organization, also is excited about the new facility.

“There can never be enough safe places for children to improve their learning,” she said. “This will be the sixth Griffin Center, and it is in the east end of town where there are few social, recreational activities and tutoring for children”.

The Griffin Center is an agency of Catholic Urban Programs and was founded in 1986.