Support the Agenda For America’s Youth

Why we need to take Action:

Today, Boys & Girls Clubs of America has released their Agenda for America’s Youth, a plan for action that we believe will help our society address and provide solutions to many of the most pressing issues for youth.

Locally,

In Multnomah County, 16.4% of our population lives below poverty level.
22.2% of youth aged 16-19 in Oregon are unemployed
46.2% of Oregon adults experienced 2 or more adverse childhood experiences
21% of teens don’t graduate high school.
20.5% of Oregon students are chronically absent from school

Oregon is ranked:

31st nationally on food insecurity.
47th for affordable housing nationally.
42nd for kids living in foster care.

Nationally,

1 in 5 adults experience mental illness in a given year
4.5 million young people aren’t in school and don’t have a job
Only 34% of students strongly agree they will graduate with skills needed to be successful in the job market.
It’s estimated that 1 in 8 Americans is food insecure, including more than 12 million children.
11.3 million children are without supervision between 3-6pm
19.4 million youth could be enrolled in after-school programs, but don’t have one available.

Boys & Girls Clubs empower youth.

At the Clubs, we do a lot every day. Our programs span the gamut from arts to sports, homework help to internships. We offer all these programs and services because we know that they work. Our programs help youth build resilience, recover from trauma, gain skills and prepare to head out into college and the workforce.

Just a few of the things we do at the Clubs to empower young people include:

Providing healthy free meals, nutrition and programs that support physical health. Youth can’t focus if they aren’t fed. That’s why we offer healthy meals and snacks to our kids at no cost. In the summer, meals at the Clubs are open to kids and teens 1-18 in our community. Our incredibly caring Nutritional Services staff put together balanced meals for kids that fill bellies and create a sense of community.
Nutritional training, cooking classes, sports and fitness programs all play a part in making sure youth are equipped with life skills and staying active, supporting healthy bodies and minds inside the Club and after kids leave.
Practicing Trauma Informed Care and serving youths’ mental and behavioral health needs.
Our Clubs utilize a trauma-informed approach that takes into account the impacts of adverse childhood experiences on the kids and families we serve. Youth who suffer from the impacts of houselessness, food scarcity, racism, abuse, loss of a parent, and other forms of trauma are statistically at a disadvantage when it comes to long-term health and life opportunities.

To better serve the mental and behavioral health of youth, we partner with LifeWorks NW and local colleges to bring counseling services to our kids, and have dedicated Youth and Family Services staff in our Clubs to connect families with high need to resources like housing, clothing closets, healthcare and much more.
Equity and inclusion guide our decisions and our programs. Our team operates with equity at the forefront of our decision-making process, from hiring to interactions with youth and families. In a community that has long been impacted by systemic oppression, exploitation, and unfairness, the importance of equity work cannot be understated. We are committed to undoing these systems of oppression, eliminating disparities, implementing an inclusive process, and continuously learning how to better serve our communities.To that end, our staff has an equity committee that meets monthly to consider issues, policies and decisions. Additionally, all our staff regularly receive Equity and Inclusion training and have discussions about bias, racism, ableism, and the importance of culturally-specific programming.Club activities such as Restorative Justice circles allow a safe space for youth to have conversations about what is impacting them and deal with challenging issues in a positive, supportive environment where everyone can be heard. Each Club incorporates programming that reflects its community, celebrating and learning about other cultures.
We make sure teens are prepared for the workforce. The This Way Ahead program provides teens with entry-level opportunities that open doors to future jobs. Our KeyBank YouthForce program gives teens internship opportunities, mentorship, and builds financial literacy, career planning, and networking help. TalentPath connects kids and parents to training and internships, with can lead to entry-level developer jobs in the technology field. And our Clubs provide a variety of technology training that prepare kids for future careers, including STEM programs and technology labs that youth can use to explore community planning, coding, robotics, artificial intelligence, and much more.

Your voice influences policies and solutions.

Historic legislation like the Student Success Act, passed earlier this year in Oregon, will make a huge impact on our youth by allocating $1 billion in funding to schools to help ensure children have access to proper nutrition programs, behavioral and mental health support, extracurricular activities are important for cognitive, physical and social development, and out-of-school instructional time in after-school programs like Boys & Girls Clubs.

When individuals like you tell our lawmakers that they must prioritize these things for our youth, they listen. With input and support from parents, educators, and community members, we can make a difference.

What can you do to help?

Check out the Agenda for America’s youth, to find out how you can support out-of-school time, safer childhoods, health and wellness, workforce and leadership development, and equity for our youth. If you’d like to find out about more legislative efforts to make a better future for our youth, nationally, and locally, join Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Catalyst for Change advocacy network. Through Catalyst for Change, you’ll be notified about current and upcoming policy proposals that impact kids and what you can do to take action.

Thank you for supporting Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metro in our fight to empower our youth to achieve their #GreatFutures!