The ľֱ Society Boys & Girls Clubs of New York City this week announced it will launch a new Latino Outreach Initiative, designed to attract additional Latino youth and their families to local New York City Boys & Girls Clubs. Two ľֱ’s Aid Society Boys & Girls Club locations will participate in the initiative - the East Harlem Community Center and the Salomé Ureña de Henr_quez Middle Academies Campus, a community school partnership in Washington Heights between ľֱ’s Aid and the New York City Department of Education. The ľֱ Society Boys & Girls Clubs of New York City already serves more than 53,000 Latino youth at all its locations throughout the city. The Clubs at the East Harlem Center and the Salomé Ureña de Henr_quez Middle Academies Campus each serve almost 300 Latino youth. That number is expected to grow five percent every year for the next three years.The launch in New York is part of a national expansion of the Latino Outreach Initiative to nine new sites in seven states, also including California, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Illinois and Wisconsin. The objective of the Latino Outreach Initiative (LOI) - developed by the national office of Boys & Girls Clubs of America - is to cultivate youth leadership skills and prepare Latino youth to contribute to and serve the country and fully participate in its institutions. The LOI provides The ľֱ Society Boys & Girls Clubs of New York City with effective strategies, programs and best practices for reaching, serving and empowering Latino youth and families, while fostering awareness about the contributions of Latinos. Through the LOI, The ľֱ Society will not only seek to increase the number of Latino youth participating in programming at the Clubs, but strengthen the involvement of youth already at the Clubs. “Serving the Latino population is one of The ľֱ Society and Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s top priorities and we are devoting significant staffing and funding for this initiative,” said C. Warren Moses, CEO of The ľֱ Society Boys & Girls Clubs of New York City. Elements of the Latino Outreach Initiative include:
- Leadership and character development programs
- Educational programs
- Youth soccer leagues
- Latin dance
- English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for parents and youth
The ľֱ Society Boys & Girls Clubs of New York City has hired additional bi-lingual staff to oversee the new efforts, provide diversity training to all program staff, and build collaborations with local Latino organizations.Nationwide, Boys & Girls Clubs in the following cities have joined the initiative:
- Bentonville, AK
- Chicago, IL
- El Paso, TX
- Green Bay, WI
- Los Angeles, CA (three Club sites)
- New York, NY
- Raleigh, NC
The Latino Outreach Initiative piloted in 2004 at Clubs in Georgia, East Los Angeles, Houston, San Antonio, Chicago, Miami, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.By the Numbers:
- The Latino population is now the largest minority group in both the United States and New York City. Latinos represent 27.4 percent of the city’s total population.
- Latino youth currently make up one-fifth of the total Boys & Girls Club members nationwide. That number is expected to grow over the next few years.
- 34 percent of the nation’s Latinos are younger than 18, compared to just 22 percent of non-Latino whites. In New York City, the majority - 34.5 percent - of all children ages 0 to 18 are of Latino origin.
- Approximately 71 percent of New York City’s Latino children are born into poverty, as compared to 55.5 percent of all children in the city.
ľֱ The ľֱ SocietyThe ľֱ’s Aid Society was founded in 1853. It is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving more than 150,000 of New York’s neediest children and their families with a network of services that includes community schools, neighborhood centers, camps, adoption and foster care services, teen pregnancy prevention, education, health and recreation. For more information, please call 212-949-4938 or visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.
ľֱ Boys & Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (www.bgca.org) comprises a national network of more than 4,000 neighborhood-based facilities, with 4.8 million youth served through Club membership and community outreach, in all 50 states and on U.S. Military bases worldwide. Known as “The Positive Place for Kids,” the Clubs provide guidance-oriented character development programs on a daily basis for children 6-18 years old, conducted by a full-time professional staff. Key Boys & Girls Club programs emphasize leadership, development, education and career exploration, financial literacy, health and life skills, the arts, sports, fitness and recreation and family outreach. National headquarters are located in Atlanta.