BE BE www.BeGreatDenver.org 303.892.9200 NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID 2017 W. 9th Avenue DENVER, CO Denver, CO 80204 PERMIT NO. 3140 2 3 The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver is to inspire and enable young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens. Since 1961, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver has been helping kids from tough neighborhoods stay out of trouble, stay in school, and succeed in life. Not just after school hangouts, the Clubs are places where young people come to learn, do homework, develop social citizenship skills, express themselves creatively, and participate in sports. For a membership fee of just $2 per year, any young person between the ages of 6 and 18 can become a member at Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver. In the safe and positive atmosphere of a Club, members have the freedom to choose from more than fifty structured programs in six core areas designed to give them a sense of competency, usefulness, belonging and empowerment. • Character and Leadership Development • Education and Career Development • Technology • Health and Life Skills • The Arts • Sports, Fitness and Recreation 1 Be great. Be inspired. Be brave. Be an MVP. These encouraging words from some of Boys & Girls Clubs’ most well-known alums – Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver is committed to deepening our impact on the young people we serve, but what exactly does that including Denzel Washington, General Wesley Clark, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Shaquille O’Neal – are more than just words of wisdom mean? We have undertaken intensive research efforts and developed a strategic plan for increasing our effectiveness and furthering for today’s youth. They’re a call to action for all of us. our mission. BGCMD has identified four fundamental areas – impact with strategic growth, community involvement, strong organization, public trust – that establish our priorities and focus for the future, and will increase our positive impact on youth outcomes. At Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, we have been working hard during this recession to be strategic, be thoughtful, be inventive and collaborative. 2008 was a year of dramatic change and tremendous achievement at Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver. We experienced a transition in leadership and watched with pride as local Club member Shonnetta Henry was named National Youth of the Year by Boys & Girls Clubs of America. At the same time, we worked diligently to provide the highest level of quality in our programming while continuing to trim costs and expand our resource development efforts in light of economic changes. In December, we finalized a multi-year strategy that will carry our organization into the future. We redefined our areas of focus, and developed a baseline for outcome measurements. We refined our growth strategies and created new processes to articulate the Playbook Touchdown impact of programs. Impact with Youth Outcomes We firmly believe that every child has the potential to BE GREAT. But our efforts to help young people succeed require an investment Strategic Growth • Academic Success from all of us. It is critical that the Boys & Girls Club family – a community of staff, volunteers, parents, youth and supporters – work Elements of Impact • Healthy Lifestyles together to create a positive place, full of hope and opportunity, for every child. • Safe and Positive Environment • Good Character and Citizenship Thank you for being part of this family. Thank you for standing by us and by our young people during an incredibly challenging time • Fun for our nation. Please remember that your support has true impact in the lives of kids who will someday become leaders in their • Supportive relationships neighborhoods, their communities, and their country. with peers and adults end zone • Opportunities and expectations Be a difference-maker. Be the change. Belong. Believe. • Recognition Warm regards, Community Involvement Strong Organization Public Trust John P. Arigoni John M. Shaw President and CEO Chairman of the Board Involved This strategic plan charges us to boldly lead with impact, In the following pages, you will see the measured impact Strategic BE BE continue to grow, strengthen our organization, assure greater that Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver has had on more public trust, and expand the influence of our organization than 9,000 young people in 2008. beyond our Clubhouse walls. Together, we will assure a positive future for every child and a community empowered by great citizens. To learn more about this five-year game plan, visit www.BeGreatDenver.org. 2 3 From Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington to the National Youth of the Year, Boys & Girls Clubs across the world In 2008, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver (BGCMD) • Clubs provide multiple programs that serve the whole know that great lives start within their walls. Since opening our doors in 1961, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver has inspired delivered more than 1 million hours of enriching programs child – More than 93 percent of members participate in numerable young people to BE GREAT and reach their full potential in life. The following pages feature stories from just a few of for 9,174 kids and teens. 3 or more of our core youth-development program areas: the many Club members helped by our Clubs in 2008. Character and Leadership Development, Education and These fun, age-appropriate, well-rounded programs nurture Career Development, Health and Life Skills, Technology, young people’s well-being and help them reach their full The Arts, Sports, Fitness and Recreation.* BE a super star potential through supportive relationships with caring youth- “I reach out, grip the door handle, and pull. A small puff development professionals, volunteer mentoring, and • Leadership programs make a positive impact – Shonnetta H., of wind sweeps across my bangs… One hundred faces positive peer group experiences. Members who participated in leadership programs age 18, and one hundred smiles; all eagerly anticipating whatever demonstrated better outcomes than non-participants we have to give. It is here in the Boys & Girls Club…that Our Clubs undoubtedly have a positive impact on the young in the following areas: positive character development, Member of the George M. I start to reform, remodel, and reshape my community. people we serve. According to the latest Harris survey of self-esteem, responsibility and decision-making skills, Wilfley Branch; Boys & Girls From the inside out!” – Shonnetta H., age 18 Boys & Girls Clubs alumni, some 28 percent report they communication and conflict-resolution skills, and Clubs of America 2008/2009 would have dropped out of high school if not for the Club, school commitment, interest and performance.* National Youth of the Year; and nearly 67 percent credit the influence of Club staff for Wants to be a Psychologist giving them the ability to avoid difficulty with the law. 57 • Academic support key to school success – Members “I strive to be a positive role model for the most easily influ- percent of alumni believe the Club saved their life. Verbatim who participated in Power Hour, BGCMD’s after school As a shy young girl living in an enced group of kids. I try to do my part in minimizing and comments reveal that alumni found a safe haven at the Club, homework program, demonstrated significantly greater impoverished neighborhood, resolving conflicts. I do this by acting as an objective mediator away from disruptive or dysfunctional family situations or school commitment and interest than non-participants.* Shonnetta faced many and encouraging the kids to calmly talk their problems out. I other negative influences in their neighborhoods. challenges. Her single mother intend to help people in the Club solve conflicts peacefully • Technology labs get kids plugged in – In 2008, a struggled to raise three children, and Shonnetta was often and become less quarrelsome as a whole. The Boys & Girls BGCMD upholds our promise to youth by providing a safe, record number of 4,980 unique members participated the sole source of support for her younger siblings. Although Club gives me purpose,” said Shonnetta. positive place and having significant impact in their lives. in the technology program. Thanks to this program, Club the odds were stacked against her, Shonnetta found Boys & Many Club members are at our facilities five days a week members have significantly increased their skills in web Girls Clubs of Metro Denver and soon became determined Shonnetta’s outstanding contributions to her Club, community, and consider our Clubs their second home. This is where design, desktop publishing, graphic arts, spreadsheet – to be great. school and family earned her highest honors as the 2008 they come to learn problem-solving skills, how to share, software, and presentation applications.** 2009 National Youth of the Year for Boys & Girls Clubs of how to say no to drugs, and gain the tools they need to While she has had more work and responsibility thrust upon America. This amazing young woman has risen above many be successful, responsible adults in our community. • Sports, Fitness and Recreation programs keep kids her than many adults do, Shonnetta has remained unbowed obstacles and has become a national youth spokesperson, moving – A significantly greater proportion of youth with by her burdens and has instead welcomed a rigorous academic discussing youth issues with our nation’s leaders and