Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Waterville
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : f******t@c******c.o*g
Mission Statement
Our Club serves residents of the poorest region in Maine; at a rate 15% higher than state rates, 34.6% have incomes below poverty level. Over 50% of our County's public school students are food insecure, which leads to educational challenges and increases the struggle to graduate high school; 27% of Waterville's 18-24-year-olds lack a high school degree. The resulting high levels of unemployment and underemployment continue the vicious cycles of poverty and food insecurity. We are breaking this cycle with, among other programs, DHHS Licensed care for children ages 6-12 on an average of 190 at risk youth per day, 90% of whom are Free and Reduced Lunch program eligible and, therefore attend for free. We remove the child care barrier for working parents; but more importantly, we provide a quality mentoring program that feeds youth, increases opportunities for academic achievement and graduation from high school, helps youth reach their greatest potential, and prepares them for a healthy and successful life.
About This Cause
Our organization is the only combined Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCA in the country and we are housed in one of the biggest and best facilities these agencies has ever seen, The Alfond Youth Center. These separate 501(c)(3) companies have successfully come together to provide amazing child care programs, healthy living solutions, and community resources to this city we now find in such desperate need. Our mission program is the After School Program, in which our licensed and degree-d directors and instructors provide students the quality instruction, resources, and supports they need through formal programs, clubs, instruction and recreation. Programs focused on keeping kids in school through graduation include: Project Learn, helping youth progress to their next grade level on time and at competency with 1:1 Tutoring, homework assistance, and computer lab classes; Let's Get Ready, providing a six-week college aspirations seminar to kids grades 5th through 8th, making higher education an achievable goal for them, and to high school juniors and seniors a free college preparation course. This course covers SAT preparation, college matching, financial aid assistance, writing college essay support and follow up with all graduates to help make transition into college successful. Our youth participate in Big Brothers & Big Sisters and Reach & Rise Therapeutic Mentoring, keeping at risk youth ages 6 to 17 on a path towards success. At risk teens who have committed a crime can opt to participate in our Rebound for Success Program, a twelve week SMART Moves course taught by Police officers that focuses on each youth’s issues, such as domestic violence, gun violence and drug use. Upon completion youth can have their cases dismissed; 97% of the 300 teens who opted for our program did not re-offend, as opposed to national average of only 55%. One of our biggest growing programs is the Sustainable Garden, which addresses so many of our goals that we are thrilled it will be extending into a year-round program through the addition of a greenhouse in the Spring of 2017. Educationally the instruction is based on a STEM curriculum, using an interdisciplinary and applied approach to the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Organic gardening and the sustainability of our ecosystem is connected to youth's school modules; 1st graders explore plant components, 3rd graders discuss pollination, and 7th graders review nitrogen carbon cycles. Youth participate in the entire process of gardening our 15 raised beds: from preparing the soil and planting the seeds, irrigation and pest control, fertilizing and harvesting, helping choose and prepare dishes, to eating the fruits of their labor and composting the waste. They also open the beds in the spring and put them away at end of season. Once the greenhouse is constructed we are excited to start a youth run stand at the Waterville Farmers' Market and partner with local agribusinesses to run teen classes, preparing them for employment at their sites. In order to provide a holistic experience for our youth and include alternative and creative methods of learning we have developed a very strong and vibrant arts program, constantly expanding to include the expertise of new community volunteers and youth's changing interests. Every year youth participate in Kids with Cameras. Colby instructors and students teach the art, camera use and care, styles of photography, and the youth prepare their pieces to compete in national shows, often winning! We also partner with a local music center, Snow Pond Center for the Arts, to provide leaders for our Percussion Club and Chorus. We will be starting guitar lessons as soon as we get an instructor and will then be putting together a youth band. Our diverse visual arts program is also expanding to include a full ceramics program, complete with potters wheels, kiln and glazing! We plan on teaching classes to adults of all ages during the day as well. Our Healthy Living Initiative is made whole by three arms: the Sustainable Garden producing healthy food, Kids’ Kitchen serving healthy meals, and New Balance Fitness Kid Power & Running Club keeping kids moving! Our Kids' Kitchen serves 40,000 free, hot nutritious meals and snacks annually, often the last meal our kids have before going to bed, and sends home Weekend Backpacks full of nutritious food for weekend meals to 75 families every Friday afternoon. This innovative program is now the model for YUSA’s initiative to help feed hungry children. Our over 5,000 members, from toddler to octogenarian, are serviced by numerous additional programs. Early childcare, summer enrichment programs, day and overnight summer camps, aquatics (lessons, swim team, adult aqua-aerobics, therapeutic pool sessions for wounded warriors), competitive and intramural sports (karate, dance, basketball, baseball, football, etc.), Families Matters activities for adults with disabilities, and both adult and older adult fitness and wellness classes, programs, and teams are all offered at low to no cost depending on need.