Innovation, Expansion Lead to Upward Trend in Youth Engagement
Focused on the goal of keeping at-risk youth safe and hopeful about the future, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston – for the second consecutive summer – sought innovative ways to expand our operations. We reached more youth - a total of nearly 3,000 - by extending hours to weekends and late nights on Fridays, and by expanding our service footprint to include the operation of Camp Harbor View, a new summer camp on Long Island in Boston Harbor. The benefits of engaging more youth during the summer are reflected in the upward trend in daily attendance we experienced at the Clubs this fall.
-
During summer 2007, daily attendance at our Club-based Summer Camps showed an increase of 11% as compared with summer 2006;
-
The addition of Camp Harbor View contributed to an overall 25% increase in youth served during the summer;
-
Club median attendance this fall has been 18% higher than in 2006;
-
Nearly two dozen Camp Harbor View “alumni” are now fully engaged as members at one of our Clubs.
Most of the 1,200 teens who participated in our summer programs ranked having a safe place to hang out with friends as “very important” in their decision to participate. With the investment in the Smith Family Teen Center at our Yawkey Club and Blue Hill Club (both made possible by the Comprehensive Campaign), teens in neighborhoods most affected by violence have found that save haven.
This growth in membership numbers and impact on active members is in alignment with our recently launched five-year Strategic Plan, which calls for us to invest in innovation and increase active members by 40% by 2013. Less than one year after setting the goal, we are showing a median attendance increase of 12%.