Imagine growing up in a community that offers few educational or employment opportunities, is 200 miles from the nearest town, and is overwhelmed by such risk factors as poverty, drug use and staggering alcoholism rates. How would this affect your childhood and consequently your adult life?

Unfortunately, this scenario is all too common for young people growing up on Native American lands. For far too long, these youth and their communities have been without the support and resources they need to overcome enormous odds and create hope for a brighter future.

For more than 140 years, the Boys & Girls Club experience has positively affected America’s young people, with an emphasis on providing valuable programs and services to youth from the most challenging economic and societal backgrounds. In fact, Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s (B&GCA’s) mission is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.

Given the specific challenges facing Indian youth, reaching out to Native American young people is a natural fit with B&GCA’s mission. For the past decade, Boys & Girls Clubs of America has worked closely with tribal and community leaders to establish Clubs on Indian lands. Today, some 60,000 Native youth are served by 142 Clubs in 25 states. But we aren’t stopping there: we plan to open 24 new Native American Clubs this year. As long as Native youth can benefit from Boys & Girls Clubs, we will be there for them.

This issue of The Positive Place features profiles of a handful of our Native Clubs, from Maine to North Dakota to Alaska. The common thread that runs through all of these stories is the enormous difference that a positive, pro-active outreach effort can have on underserved populations. In just a few short years, Clubs have made a big difference.

If you would like to support our Native American initiative, please contact me at 404-487-5818 or via e-mail at rparker@bgca.org.
Thank you, our friends and donors, for making this important work possible.