Research shows that kids and teens who attend our Clubs three or more times each week have stronger outcomes. By 2025, we plan to serve 10,000 kids and teens each year with an average daily attendance of 4,000 members—increasing the number of youth we serve by more than 20 percent.
The following campaign priorities will help BGCMA serve more kids, more often by expanding the number of Clubs in Metro Atlanta, along with increasing access to and enhancing the Club environment.
Click each component to expand.
Every child should have the opportunity to spend their out-of-school time in engaging environments that inspire exploration and learning. To create a lasting sense of welcome and keep Club environments safe, efficient, and reliable for the next ten years, BGCMA has identified infrastructure needs across its metro area Clubs along with Camp Kiwanis. Improvements at these sites will allow BGCMA to serve more kids, more often in environments that exceed standards of cleanliness and safety as well as comfort and aesthetics.
Building BGCMA’s capacity will help bring our RISE 2025 strategic plan to life and enable initiatives to serve more kids, more often, with greater impact. For example, the campaign will support efforts to expand our Club footprint through continued strategic partnerships along with strengthening current service delivery models and implementing innovative approaches such as virtual, Saturday, and school day programming.
Additional strategic priorities enabled by the campaign will include:
BGCMA’s mission calls us to invest and operate in Metro Atlanta communities with the highest need. Our Chamblee Club enables us to do this in a big way.
In 2018, we made the decision to sell our Brookhaven Club and open a larger facility in Chamblee, where we could continue serving nearly all our existing youth and families while expanding our programming and services to those who need them most.
The Chamblee Club offers more than double the square footage of the former site, allowing us to serve 50 percent more youth. The move also enabled BGCMA to consolidate our executive offices and Support Center into the Club in fall 2021. The campaign will support a complete renovation of the Chamblee Club into a state-of-the-art space for kids and teens—BGCMA’s flagship location in Metro Atlanta as well as a model for Clubs across the country.
The alignment of demonstrated need, community champions, public funding, and eager school partners created exceptional conditions for Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta to accelerate our goal to serve more kids, more often by having a presence—for the first time ever—in Henry County.
In summer 2021, BGCMA celebrated the grand opening of the Shaquille O’Neal Boys & Girls Club of Henry County, located in the former Henry County Middle School. Public and private funding have supported the transformation of the traditional school building into a dynamic Club environment, with dedicated space for tweens and teens, along with the first three years of operations.
Getting kids to and from their Clubs safely each day is essential to our mission and ongoing efforts to increase Club membership and attendance. BGCMA has evaluated each of our vehicles by mileage, repair costs, and wear and tear, and will use campaign funds to service, repair, or replace these vehicles as needed to ensure transportation is never a barrier to participating in the Club experience.
Regina | BGCMA 2021–2022 Youth of the Year
The following campaign components will enable Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta to pursue four big ideas that will deepen our impact with the youth we serve.
These priorities will allow BGCMA to respond to emerging community needs beyond the scope of our RISE 2025 strategic plan that fall squarely within BGCMA’s mission and expertise, catalyzing new opportunities to serve our kids in deeper, more meaningful ways.
Extended school closures and the abrupt transition to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted the academic growth of thousands of students across Metro Atlanta—compounding opportunity gaps that many Club youth were already facing. Despite these obstacles, our youth are resilient and driven to achieve academic success.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta is taking a leadership role in this critical time of post-pandemic academic acceleration, supported by an existing ecosystem of programs and partnerships.
BGCMA’s five-year acceleration plan leverages our proven formula for impact to address the academic, health, and social-emotional needs of students with four areas of focus:
In 2021, BGCMA received $2.8 million in public funding to help launch and sustain this program for two years. We are seeking philanthropic funding to extend this work for three additional years to ensure our kids get the support they need during the transition to post-pandemic life.
Technology continues to evolve and shape how we learn, work, and connect. At BGCMA, we are committed to ensuring our members and staff have access to the tools they need to thrive now and in the future.
To this end, BGCMA adopted a technology investment strategy that addresses each of our key stakeholders. Campaign funds will activate this plan, designed to increase efficiencies for youth, families, and staff; allow BGCMA to make more data-driven decisions; and maintain 21st century program experiences.
Investments will include:
At the heart of Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta are the youth development professionals who cultivate inclusive spaces and impart positive values that our Club kids take with them into their communities and their futures.
To support our staff of diverse and effective leaders and achieve greater impact with kids, BGCMA is launching a first-of-its-kind Center of Excellence & Innovation in Metro Atlanta, with plans to scale and offer a framework for replicability in other metro areas. Designed to amplify our Club-wide culture of learning by empowering staff through education, experience, and ongoing coaching, the Centers will be hubs for innovation where we can test, pilot, and run innovative programming that we can share with other Clubs across the country and around the world.
The Centers of Excellence & Innovation will equip BGCMA to:
BGCMA has long woven social-emotional development into every fiber of our programs, practices, expectations, and relationships. The campaign will enable BGCMA to build upon this foundation by deepening capacity across our organization.
Youth Capacity: Implement relevant social-emotional learning programs and further integrate social-emotional skill building across core program areas.
Staff Capacity: Equip staff with the tools, resources, and professional development they need to consistently engage in practices that foster social-emotional wellness and skill building.
Organizational Capacity: Create environments where the expression and practice of social-emotional skills can occur in a supportive, consistent, and sequenced manner.
Strategic Partnerships: Partner with key organizations to provide targeted resources and services to support mental health, caregiver engagement, and trauma-informed care to youth and families.
Veronica Squires [she/her]
Chief Development Officer
404-783-2869
vsquires@bgcma.org
©2024 Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta