Research is proving that gathering places, recreational facilities and sports opportunities are necessary for the healthy development of young people – especially those in poorer neighborhoods where other social options are few and destructive opportunities are everywhere. Those facilities and opportunities are also important to parents, who, through their child’s participation in sporting events can meet their peers in the community.
LISC is addressing that issue through the Grassroots program, a partnership between the National Football League’s Youth Football Fund, the NFL Players Association and LISC that works with community groups to create or rehabilitate playing fields in underserved neighborhoods. Since 1998, the NFL’s Youth Football Fund has contributed $12.5 million to restore or build more than 100 community fields in more than 40 cities nationwide. That contribution has prompted other funders to kick in roughly $42 million in additional funding to support field redevelopment. LISC identified the fields and the community groups committed to building them. Improvements typically include improvements such as the installation of artificial turf, irrigations systems, lights, bleachers, scoreboards and goal posts.
> NFL Youth Football Fund Grassroots Program - Program Summary (PDF, 73 KB)
