THE SANDY CLUB A SAFE PLACE FOR BOYS & GIRLS
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Mission Statement
The Sandy Club, “A Safe Place for Boys & Girls,” is an organization for at-risk children in Salt Lake’s South Valley. Our mission is to empower young people by giving them a place to play, learn, and grow with programs that build character and healthy habits. The Sandy Club serves approximately 60 children ages 5-12 during out-of-school time when they are most vulnerable. At the Club, children do their schoolwork, engage in positive recreation and play. The Sandy Club is a special place with a family like atmosphere. We offer healthy snacks, school supplies and toys children can keep, and even clothing when they need it. The Sandy Club also extends a helping hand to families and parents, many of whom are at great risk of losing work in an economic downturn. We stock a food pantry, provide holiday gifts, and more. The Sandy Club operates through a public-private partnership: Sandy City provides 30% of our operating budget and we raise the balance through contributions and grants.
About This Cause
The Sandy Club opened in 1991 in response to a community need for accessible and affordable after-school services for low-income youth in the area. While metropolitan Salt Lake City is served by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake, their services do not extend to Sandy. The Sandy Club is the only organization in the area that provides a safe haven and adult supervision for at-risk youth during out-of-school time, when they are most vulnerable. Sandy Club youth come from “Historic” Sandy City neighborhoods—home to marginalized populations and three Title I schools. Many of the Sandy Club’s children live in a world characterized by absentee parents, gang involvement, generational crime, domestic violence, and unstable housing. Nearly 90% of our youth are non-white, and 85% come from economically disadvantaged households (50% or less of median income). Helping at-risk youth in the community achieve positive outcomes related to good character, healthy lifestyles, and academic success are the Sandy Club’s overarching goals. Happily, the Club has had a profound impact on the marginalized youth of Salt Lake's South Valley for the past 30 years. We are starting to welcome a second-generation of members: youth whose parents attended the Sandy Club and now tell us the Club "saved their lives." To help children combat the disadvantages youth in our area confront daily, the Sandy Club provides out-of-school-time programming that supports the development of good character and beneficial life skills. Programs include games and sports, socializing and play, and counseling when it’s needed. We also provide tutoring and homework assistance to foster academic success. Our programs are supervised by young adults—many of whom are former Sandy Club members that our kids see as similar to themselves—who model positive behavior, pursuit of higher education, and regular employment. At the Sandy Club, we believe education is key to success in life. We encourage and foster academic progress, helping youth overcome barriers to getting an education. During the school year, children spend their first hour at the Club doing their homework. Our aim is that kids feel empowered, stay on top of their classwork, and keep up their grades. Unfortunately, for many of our children, their time at the Club may be the only time they spend on schoolwork. Parents often do not have time to help their child, or families may not have computer and Internet resources at home. Parents have expressed appreciation to the Sandy Club for ensuring their children’s homework is complete. Following study hour, children spend the next two hours engaging in positive recreation. The Sandy Club also provides healthy snacks and food, which for many of our kids may be the only food they have until school the next day. In addition to supporting our children, the Sandy Club also supports their families. The majority of our families are low-income and at greatest risk of losing work in an economic downturn; and many are not able to receive relief funding. During the spring 2020 shutdown, the Sandy Club worked with our nonprofit partner, Kids Eat, to provide families with food bags weekly and we offered access to the food pantry at Head Start, which rents space in our facility. Additionally, we manage a food donation program through Amazon Smile and stock a Sandy Club food pantry. In addition to serving families through food assistance, we also offer assistance with other safety net needs through partner referral services. For example, the Sandy Club provides paid mental health counseling referrals for our children and families. As a youth organization, the Sandy Club is uniquely qualified to provide at-risk children with an environment in which they not only are safe, but they thrive. 1) The Sandy Club is the only organization in our community that provides high quality, accessible after-school services for low-income children. We are licensed and observing the COVID-19 safety guidelines of the Utah Bureau of Child Care Licensing and the Utah After School Network. 2) The Sandy Club has a long track record of success—30 years operating in partnership with Sandy City and community organizations to support marginalized children and families. The Club provides hyper-local services targeted to our area by frequently asking, “What is the most urgent thing our families need?” and nimbly evolving as the answers to that question change. For example, during the spring 2020 shutdown we knew that, if the Club was not open to provide food, our children would overwhelmingly suffer from hunger. So we quickly found ways to make food available to our families. 3) The Club’s nurturing environment supports the whole child and enables children to stay consistently emotionally secure. For example, this past year we found children suffering emotional trauma caused by what is happening in the world around them. We address their fears directly, empowering them by teaching them ways to care for themselves and others; and we limit television, computers, and social media in order to give them a break from worrisome news and just let them be kids. 4) The Sandy Club leverages strong partnerships between schools, school districts, and our community. We have representatives from schools and colleges on our Board of Directors, as well as representatives from Sandy City, and engaged members of the business community. Our staff serves on committees at the district and city. Sandy Club ensures program effectiveness and success through: • Data evaluation and tracking: number of children served; attendance; youth engagement in activities; youth feedback on programs; parent feedback; school and district feedback. • Skill-based assessments to measure skills gained by youth, such as: self-confidence in expressing thoughts and ideas; curiosity, interest in learning new things; ability to communicate effectively; ability to work in a team; performance on school work, effective study skills; and skills gained by staff such as knowledge and performance in instructional skill building; • Goal setting to ensure the understanding of what needs to be accomplished and how to accomplish it, such as: maintaining sound curriculum structure; accessibility of activities; employing staff who have the ability to lead program activities; maintaining positive relationships with parents and children, with Sandy City and policy makers, with schools and districts, and with funders.