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2016 Grants Challenge

Great Futures Start At Home

Our project brings the service and care of the Boys & Girls Club right to the doorsteps of our kids.

Are any other organizations collaborating on this proposal?

Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Monica, Community Corporation of Santa Monica

Please describe your project proposal.

Our project is a model that can be duplicated in other communities and help others, too. We offer proven Boys & Girls Club youth-development activities in affordable housing communities to kids 6-18 years of age. Programs yield academic success, good character & citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. What’s special here is that we are bringing the Club to the home community so that kids are directly served with programs they need, and the whole family benefits from using the family-centered space.

Which of the PLAY metrics will your proposal impact?​

Number of children enrolled in afterschool programs

In what areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?

Westside

Describe in greater detail how your proposal will make LA the best place to PLAY?

Remember when you were a kid – some of your best friends were from your neighborhood. Families today tend to be scattered and busy with life, work, and school, with little time to connect. Our community centers provide a place for resident families to connect, in beautiful settings where gathering, play, and learning becomes a natural course of life.

We believe that great futures start at home. This collaborative endeavor began nine years ago and serves as a model for other communities to adapt, by creating neighborhoods that inspire family love and pride, where families learn to live, adapt, grow and play together, and have good experiences that create important useful resources, and lifetime memories.

Our family centers include an array of free services:

* Free, convenient neighborhood youth development center with Boys & Girls Clubs programs, right at home in the heart of the community.

* Safe, secure space at home for youth to learn and play alongside their neighbors in an easily accessible, inspiring, enriching setting.

* Friendships, because some of the best friendships in childhood begin in the neighborhood. These kids and their families are creating friendships that will last a lifetime.

* Family opportunities to share experiences and grow together. Our centers offer family resource workshops for parents, community celebration events, and after-school programs.

* Pride of ownership and community becomes the norm by having a family-centered area to gather right inside the community. Residents become more inclined to invest in maintaining safe, well maintained, and vibrant communities.

* The Boys & Girls Club members have opportunities to explore the world outside their neighborhood, with full access to the events and activities offered by the Boys & Girls Clubs including college tours, cultural field trips, and interaction with kids from surrounding communities.

* The community centers are managed by dedicated, caring youth development professionals who serve as positive role models to the Club members, with important information for families at their fingertips as a valuable, accessible resource.

Please explain how you will define and measure success for your project.​

Number of young people 6-18 years of age served by Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica programs.

Number of families served by community resource activities and projects.

Number of young people who do not engage in delinquent activities.

Number of young people advancing on time in grade level, graduating from high school, and continuing to post-secondary education.

Community family events and workshop logs containing participation and outcomes.

Outreach opportunities for young people to explore opportunities outside their neighborhood via Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica field trips and excursions.

How can the LA2050 community and other stakeholders help your proposal succeed?

Money

Volunteers

Staff