Success Story: Payette Lakes Community Association, Inc.

An afterschool program in McCall used grant funds from the Idaho Out-of-School Network to provide scholarships to families and hire more program instructors, making space for more students to join the program while keeping program costs low. 

“The grant funds allowed us to bring in more students than ever,” said Ashlee Fliney, Executive Director of the Payette Lakes Community Association, Inc. “The scholarships are huge for our families to be able to attend the program, especially in McCall where the cost of living is so high and having more instructors creates more spots for students to join.”

Also known as PLCA4Kids, the program is a nonprofit that runs out of the Barbara R. Morgan Elementary School on school days for grades K-5. Its mission is to engage, enrich, and educate students everyday through different lessons, field trips, outreach programs, and fun activities.

“Most of our families work full-time jobs,” said Fliney. “If we did not have this program available, their kids would have to go home alone or sit in their family’s offices.”

Every day at the program, students receive a healthy snack followed by outdoor time and then an activity, such as a STEM kit, crafting, or visit from a local organization. The day ends with homework help, tutoring, or brain games, such as puzzles or chess, made possible by middle school volunteers who provide peer mentoring.

With the funds from the Idaho Out-of-School Network, PLCA4 Kids provided 25 families financial assistance, some of which received full scholarships and others received partial ones.

In addition to making the program available to families in need to financial assistance and adding more instructors to increase the number of student enrolled, PLCA4Kids also used funds from the Idaho Out-of-School Network to hire a Social Emotional Learning specialist from the school district to provide lessons and activities to students twice a month. “Social Emotional Learning makes a huge difference for kids, and we can see the benefits of each visit,” explained Finley.

“We’ve also had families mention the importance of relationship-building the program has provided for the family,” said Finley. “The kids are always saying how much they love the activities and are excited to come back each day!”

In addition to providing grant funds, the Idaho Out-of-School Network provided resources to PLCA4Kids, including personal coaching through the Idaho Building Blocks for Out-of-School Quality.

“The ION staff is full of knowledge, advice, and numerous resources to help make our program the best it can be!” exclaimed Finley. “With ION’s help and support, we have seen so many wonderful changes in our program that better the experience for the students, families, staff, and community!”