Teen Outreach Program in Affordable Housing Communities
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley (BGCTNV) plans to implement the pilot “Teen Outreach Program in Affordable Housing Communities” at the Walter P. Taylor Club and Montgomery Village Club sites. They will employ specific strategies designed to recruit and identify teens, reach out and serve teens, and effectively meet the needs and interests of teens in the community. Strategies include hiring dedicated teen program staff at these sites, delivering planned program initiatives designed for teens, having dedicated programming time and space just for teens at these Club sites (apart from younger Club youth at these sites), and infusing evidence-informed strategies for teen outreach services. Through offering the Teen Outreach Program, BGCTNV will be providing a positive, safe place for teens to go after school and in the summer, providing connections to caring adult mentors while offering life-enhancing programs designed to allow teens to develop positive pathways for their future. This program also will, at the same time, work to reduce teen and community violence in the area and alternatively work toward neighborhood and community strengthening efforts.