OFF THE STREET CLUB
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Mission Statement
Founded in 1900, Off The Street Club is the oldest club for boys and girls in Chicago serving more than 3,000 kids. Housed in a kid-friendly complex in West Garfield Park, the OTSC gives 4- to 18-year-old kids a place to do their homework or play computer games in the Learning Center; perform plays in the Performing Arts Center; dance, rollerskate, sing, and play musical instruments; express themselves through arts and crafts and woodshop; and more. Off The Street Club kids have mentors, tutors and role models; girls can experience real “girl power” and heightened self-esteem in the Girls Center, while boys and girls together can meet and interact safely and respectfully throughout the Club. In short, Off The Street Club offers a safe place for boys and girls on Chicago's troubled west side where they can experience the casual joy of childhood.
About This Cause
Off The Street Club is the oldest club for boys and girls in Chicago, serving the children of one of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. This area, District 11 on the West Side in Garfield Park, is ravaged by crime, poverty, violence, and gangs, and holds the distinction of having the highest rates in Chicago, and one of the top in the nation for murders, robberies, and narcotics arrests. The kids living here are thus in need of the safety, support, and direction that OTSC provides. With no government funding, OTSC relies on the willing spirits, able bodies, and inspiring generosity of people who know that it is a short trip from poverty to prosperity if children are reached at an early age. Over 3,000 children call Off The Street Club "home" each year. Eligible to join at four years old, many kids spend the next 14 years of their life in the hallowed halls of 25 North Karlov Avenue, leaving only to go on to college or join the work force. Membership in the Club is simple: ten dollars and a promise. Don't have the money? No problem, as the Teen Leadership Work Program will let you earn some cash while serving the Club. The harder part is keeping the promise; a signed contract states that you will not use or sell drugs, and that you will not join any of the gangs that infest the streets of the neighborhood. These are the vices and the evils that have made the Club's existence necessary, and they are the only things in Garfield Park that are not welcome to cross the threshold. The dangers of the neighborhood are forgotten inside these walls, for this is the place where every adult is greeted with a hug, and every child smiles brightly. It is where kids know that they have people who love them truly, help them willingly, and hope for them desperately. No matter what life may be like at home or on the surrounding streets, what lies inside the Club is the thing every kid wants: a real childhood and casual joy. There are athletic programs, tutoring programs, and mentoring programs. There are people to help with both homework and real work: study groups and employment programs build confidence as well as wallets. Weekend field trips to museums, outings to movies, and summers at Camp Mathieu. The Club has a special center just for girls, a newly formed choral ensemble, a seemingly unbeatable Soap Box Derby program, and a group of tireless, generous individuals who make it all possible. The government tells us that over 3.5 million children live in poverty in the United States. The children of Garfield Park are part of that statistic. What the government doesn't tell you is that the children of the Off the Street Club might be financially poor, but they are rich in spirit, enthusiasm and drive. Hope does indeed have a home and her address is 25 North Karlov Avenue.