CHARLOTTE — The fate of a STEM event in Charlotte is in jeopardy due to federal funding cuts.
A company promised the organization money and now they’re afraid the Department of Defense might take it away.
Channel 9′s Eli Brand spoke with Miracle Parker, a local student who has been part of the Tech Titans program at UNC Charlotte since it started in 2021.
Parker told Channel 9′s Eli Brand, “It actually made me really happy. Changed my life, you know?”
The program teaches kids skills in technology and engineering that prepare them for their future.
A new Tech Titans spring break event has been planned for next week at UNC Charlotte for months. But the founder of the organization putting it on said it’s now in jeopardy.
“The quality of the program, it will be affected somewhat based on the pieces that we’re used to that we no longer have,” said Patrina Reddick, co-founder of PIMOSH – the organization that started Tech Titans.
Reddick said last week, she received a call from one of their partners, a company called Hill Park Engineering saying they wouldn’t be able to send the money they promised.
Hill Park said they get much of their funding from a contract with the Department of Defense. They said that money is currently frozen as they wait to see how much could be cut by the Trump administration in the coming months.
“I can’t go back to them and say, ‘oh no, we did all of this work for nothing,’” Reddick said.
She said other sources are also unable to help the program with tuition and transportation for their McKinney-Vento students who attend.
Reddick said losing all of that money is a huge issue but she plans to hold the event anyway.
UNC Charlotte has donated space at the Cone University Center for free for Tech Titans to use. Now, Reddick said they need help with transportation, technology to gift to students, and speakers to help educate.
Parker and her father, Nathan, said the program makes a huge difference and needs to continue: “The kids are our future.”
Echoing her father’s sentiments, Miracle added, “I used to be shy about meeting new people but now I’m able to not be shy about meeting different people.”
Hill Park Engineering said they’ll definitely fund future Tech Titans events if their federal contract money is secured.
If you would like to help Tech Titans with donations for their upcoming conference, you can email tech-titans@pimosh.net.
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