Fresno city leaders gathered Wednesday at Fort Miller Middle School to unveil a $50,000 youth scholarship grant funded through Measure P, aimed at reducing financial barriers for children to participate in private sports and enrichment programs.

Councilmember Tyler Maxwell, Mayor Jerry Dyer and High Performance Academy CEO Jesus Garcia spoke at the school gym, encouraging local nonprofits to apply to run the Youth Sports Scholarship Program. It will provide scholarships of up to $300 per child for activities such as sports, dance and martial arts.

Grant Details and Eligibility

The city is seeking one to three qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit groups to manage the program, which is designed to help youth from disadvantaged backgrounds access extracurricular activities not directly offered by the city. Applications opened Wednesday and are due by Feb. 11, with funds expected to be distributed by March.

Maxwell said the program reflects the city’s growing focus on youth investment as a long-term strategy to address issues such as crime, homelessness, and poverty.

“In five years we’ve invested over half a billion. Yes, half a billion dollars into homeless services,” Maxwell said. “I say all this, I promise you, not to pat ourselves on the back, because the truth is, while we have made significant progress towards these ends, it’s clear that it is still not enough.”

Maxwell compared the city’s approach to homelessness to fixing a leak rather than repeatedly addressing its effects.

“When you take one person off the streets to house them, only to have two more people take their place … it’s clear that you can’t mend a leaky hose just by purchasing more buckets,” he said. “You need to fix the leak at its source, and in my humble opinion, that begins by investing in our city’s youth.”

Youth 12 to 17 Are the Priority

The scholarship program will prioritize children ages 12 to 17, a group Maxwell described as particularly vulnerable.

“This is a critical window because we know that’s the age group where many kids begin to enter gangs, truancy, and even homelessness,” he said.

Eligible families must meet income requirements, including participation in programs such as CalWORKs, SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or PG&E CARE, be caregivers of foster children, or live in city-designated high-needs neighborhoods. At least 50% of the funds must be used for age groups or activities not now offered through city programs.

Unlike many reimbursement-based models, the scholarships will be paid directly to leagues or organizations upfront, a decision Maxwell said was intentional.

“That was a critical barrier for us to break, making sure that the children and their families are not liable for paying upfront and get reimbursed later on,” he said.

The city will provide up to an additional $7,500 or 15% of the grant for program administration. Nonprofits will be responsible for tracking participation data and providing regular updates to the city’s Parks Department.

Mayor Cites Public Safety, Personal Experience

Mayor Jerry Dyer said his decades-long career in law enforcement reinforced the importance of early intervention and access to positive activities.

“I got to see firsthand youth that were guided in the wrong direction,” Dyer said. “Youth that didn’t have positive activities that they could be involved in, youth that did not have positive role models and mentors in their life.”

Dyer said sports and enrichment programs help build confidence and life skills that extend beyond athletics.

“It builds their self-esteem, the fact it allows them to feel more confident about themselves and their future,” he said. “It teaches them life skills like teamwork and discipline and the importance of discipline.”

Youth Advocates Highlight Impact of Access

Garcia, founder and CEO of High Performance Academy, said access to sports shaped his upbringing in Fresno and continues to be a powerful tool for youth development.

“That journey wouldn’t have been possible if I wouldn’t had access to sports at the right time in my life,” Garcia said. “What we do at HPA isn’t just about sports. We provide structure, mentorship, and safe outlet for young people beyond athletics.”

Garcia said teenagers are often overlooked in funding decisions despite facing significant challenges.

“There are years in a young person’s life when guidance and consistency means a lot,” he said. “And during those years are the teenage years.”

He added that removing financial barriers allows families to say “yes” to opportunity.

School Leaders See On-Campus Results

Fort Miller Middle School Principal Eugenia Raynor said partnerships with organizations like HPA are making a difference.

“We’ve seen a great impact on our campus with nearly a hundred students being involved at lunch in activities such as basketball and currently we’re implementing soccer,” Raynor said. “We just see great excitement from our students every day.”

Raynor said participation has improved student engagement and attendance.

“We’ve seen great results so far with engagement, attendance, and students just being overall excited to be active,” she said.

Parks Director Aaron Aguirre said the program builds on lessons learned from city-sponsored sports initiatives.

“By removing these financial barriers, this scholarship program ensures that every child in our city, regardless of their family’s income, has the chance to experience these same life-changing lessons,” Aguirre said.

Applications for the Youth Sports Scholarship Program are available at bit.ly/youthscholarshipprogram2026.Selection committees will review proposals and finalize grant agreements in the coming weeks.

Maxwell said the program is a step toward long-term change.

“We feel confident that through more investments into our children, more investments into programs like this one, we can help break those vicious cycles of poverty, homelessness and crime,” he said.