For more than a century, BGCB has guided the intellectual, emotional and social development of young people in Boston and Chelsea. Your gift can support our targeted efforts in any of six core program areas: education, technology, arts and culture, leadership, life skills, and sports, fitness and recreation. BGCB has added five new Clubs within the last decade and launched several major initiatives that are now part of our core programming – including technology and social workers.
We are seeking investments in all core program areas, as well as in staff support and development, volunteer recruitment and training, annual program evaluation, and the introduction of activities to promote cross-cultural understanding.
At the same time, we must be intentional in our outreach efforts to ensure that youth who have the fewest opportunities available to them have access to the Clubs. We need to educate new immigrant families, grandparents raising grandchildren, and others who are new to our neighborhoods about the opportunities that exist for their children at the Clubs, and the resources available through YouthConnect for high-risk youth and their families. We must work to alleviate concerns about safety and/or cost, and facilitate engagement.
A specific goal is to secure multi-year gifts to ensure yearly sustainability of our programs. Donors may choose to designate their gift to support a specific program or Club, allowing the staff and Board to apply the funds where they are needed most. A few examples of gifts designated to support specific program areas:
- A generous donor funded education programming at the Blue Hill Club and Jordan Club to help make available diverse programming, comprehensive support services, and quality staff - all of which led to 87% of BGCB members reporting (according to a recent survey) that they are optimistic about their future educational and employment prospects.
- A donor has made a five-year commitment to underwrite teen programming at our Blue Hill Club. Engaging high-risk teens in positive activities at the Club is essential for keeping youth in this community safe and helping them develop into compassionate and productive adults.
- By underwriting the athletic director’s position at the Yawkey Club of Roxbury, where youth are at high risk for obesity and associated illnesses, a donor has made a five-year commitment to ensure the quality and sustainability of athletics programming.
- Several donors have made generous gifts to underwrite BGCB’s full-time licensed clinical social workers, who are integral to the holistic support system young people find at the Club and through YouthConnect. They focus on violence prevention, gang prevention, substance abuse prevention, conflict resolution, mediation, crisis intervention and pregnancy prevention, and build bridges to other local agencies.
BGCB Core Programs – A Brief Overview
BGCB’s six core programs work in concert to improve the cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and moral development of young people. While each focuses on specific skills, it is the wide range of developmental opportunities and experiences, with the guidance of caring, competent adults, in a safe and challenging environment that makes the Club experience unique and so effective.
Education
We believe that all children can succeed academically and grow to be healthy, productive adults if given sufficient support and opportunity to learn. BGCB’s education activities reinforce and enhance the skills and knowledge that young people gain at school. All members have the opportunity to receive homework help from a tutor.
Arts & Culture
Each Club has space for visual, performing and music arts where children are encouraged to express themselves, develop new skills and talents, and expand their individual creativity. BGCB’s goal is to ensure that every member is exposed to, and has the opportunity to engage in, a wide variety of arts-based activities from music and dance, to visual arts and creative writing.
Sports, Fitness & Recreation
BGCB helps members develop healthy habits, skills for stress management, and social skills through participation in daily activities in our gyms, swimming pools, social recreation areas and outdoor play spaces. Building on a program of traditional sports activities, BGCB now integrates activities such as karate and yoga, which require focus and discipline. Youth gain skills and build confidence to take on new challenges.
Technology
The primary goal of BGCB’s technology program is to enable members to become “fluent” in the use of technology. Our Clubs have an interactive lab called a “Computer Clubhouse,” which is based on a model developed by the Computer Museum and the MIT Media Lab. Technology also is incorporated in the Clubs’ libraries, recreation areas, and education centers. Club staff encourage young people to work alone or in groups as designers, inventors and creators.
Leadership
BGCB leadership programs allow members to practice and improve their decision-making skills. The nationally chartered Torch Club (for youth ages 11 to 13) and Keystone Club (for teens ages 14 to 18) are complemented by specialized programs developed by the Clubs to support specific membership needs, including providing employment for members.
Life Skills
BGCB helps members develop healthy self-esteem, resilience, motivation and the ability to make good choices. Our full-time, licensed, Club-based social workers perform targeted prevention and intervention work in the areas of violence prevention, gang prevention, substance abuse prevention, conflict resolution, counseling, mediation, crisis intervention, and pregnancy prevention. They also work to help Club members access the existing resources within their own neighborhoods.