Building of Halle-founded nonprofit to be included in upcoming sheriff’s sale
Grace Youth and Family Foundation is ceasing operations as the Butler County Sheriff’s Office has scheduled the sale of its building at 100 Center Ave. Officials say the nonprofit’s founder, Bill Halle, has not paid its mortgage for two years.
The sale is scheduled for May 19, but Halle said Tuesday, May 9, that he doesn’t think the building will last that long on the market.
Halle founded Grace Youth and Family Foundation in 1994. A Facebook post by the foundation said it would not be operating its summer children’s program, and the adjoining Net Cafe is temporarily closing.
“We've closed all programming there. All 15 programs will close,” Halle said Tuesday.
In past years, the city paid the foundation about $8,000 to prepare and serve meals and snacks four days a week in the summer for children at local parks. The program runs from mid-June to mid-August.
The city urgently is looking for an organization to run the Child Summer Food Service and Activities program, as June 9 is the last day of classes for Butler Area School District students who are served by the program.
An extension of the free and reduced school lunch program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the summer program provides free meals and activities for children age 18 and younger in low-income areas.
Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy said the city is working on finding a replacement organization to run the summer food program. He said that as of Tuesday, no organization is locked in to take over.
“We have to find the right partner to do this with,” Dandoy said previously. “We are talking to someone about the summer program.”
Halle resigned April 30 from the Butler school board, as well as the boards of the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School and the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV.
Halle also is president of the Butler County Republican Committee Inc., an incorporated faction of the Butler County Republican Committee that has been vying for legitimacy since the summer of 2022.
