Boys and Girls Clubs of Portland Metropolitan Area

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland (bgcp) Metropolitan Area offer young people robust programs that foster a sense of belonging, competence, usefulness, power, and influence that builds confidence, self-esteem, and future success. Bgcp continues to be at the forefront of providing youth development programs for Portland youth, serving three counties in the Portland metro Area. Our mission is to empower all young people, especially those who need us most, to discover their full potential as caring, engaged, responsible community members, especially those from our bipoc communities. Continued schedule oour approach to youth development reflects this mission. It uniquely positions us to address critical needs such as our marginalized communities' historic under-resourcing, opportunity deserts, unfinished learning, social-emotional supports, and covid recovery and healing with the resources and experiences we provide to families. Many of our youth face barriers, including poverty; food insecurity; gun violence; abuse, racism, and growing up in a family with mental health or substance use problems. Toxic stress from aces can change brain development, affect how the body responds to stress, and are linked to chronic health problems and mental illness in adulthood. Today's continuing inequalities in education, housing, employment, wealth, and representation in leadership positions, directly impact local communities and people of color. At bgcp, it is our moral imperative to do the work to dismantle the systems that created the systemic inequities and respond with the support required, ultimately ensuring the safety and dignity of the kids and families that we work together with every day. As a result, our programs include high-quality programming for youth with staff trained in impactful mentorship, trauma-informed practices, and racial equity to ensure we meet the needs of our youth and families. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metropolitan Area intentionally run programming that falls into the following core categories to address the issues discussed related to our mission and program focus. It is essential that our program activities continue to target core areas of need, such as:a. Career exploration b. Character and leadershipc. Educationd. Hearth and wellnesse. The artsf. Sports and recreation