Who We Are

---

Our Mission: To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. 

For 25 years, Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Alabama has been in the forefront of youth development, working with young people from disadvantaged economic, social and family circumstances. The Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Alabama actively seeks to enrich the lives of girls and boys whom other youth agencies have difficulty in reaching. We are dedicated to ensuring that our community’s  youngsters have access to quality programs and services that will enhance their lives and shape their futures.

The Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Alabama is part of a nationwide affiliation of local, autonomous organizations and Boys & Girls Clubs of America working to help youth of all backgrounds develop the qualities needed to become responsible citizens and leaders. It is facility-based and offers daily access to a broad range of programs in five core program areas: Character and Leadership Development; Education and Career Development; Health and Life Skills; The Arts; and Sports, Fitness and Recreation.  

Awards

Our programs have taken regional awards each year for the past 11 years, including Best Overall Program (6 time recipient) , Sports, Fitness & Recreation Program (5 time recipient), Arts (4 time recipient), Health & Life skills (3 time recipient) and Education & Career Development  (2 time recipient).  Our Director and Executive Assistant are also regional award winners. Our Board of Directors has also won  the Board Performance Award for the State of Alabama twice.  Our Club received the 2012 Gateway Award (For highest increase in Average Daily Attendance) and the Club Advocacy Champion Award in 2019.

With the 2014 expansion of our main Club, we serve more of our local youth than ever before, and see them into young adulthood in a safe, caring environment.

Safety

There is nothing more important than the safety of our youth members. We work every day to create a safe, fun environment, so kids can have every opportunity to be successful in life.

We do not tolerate inappropriate behavior of any kind, including child sexual abuse or misconduct. From strict adherence to policies and guidelines within Club facilities and staffing structure, to equipping young people with the critical thinking and social-emotional skills to make healthy, safe choices, ensuring Club members are safe is the first step to success.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America continually updates and innovates robust safety policies, programs and training for local Club staff and volunteers that are designed to protect young people from threats that are present in our society. Through the national Child & Club Safety Department we implement layers of safety policies and guidelines to keep our kids safe including:

• Mandatory criminal background checks.
• Local Boys & Girls Clubs are required to immediately report any incident regardless of severity to the appropriate authorities and then to Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
• Each Club has a Board led Safety Committee elevating safety to the highest level of governance.
• Clubs are required to complete a mandatory annual safety assessments.
• BGCA and local Clubs engage leading 3rd party safety experts on training, policies and resources.
• Any employee looking to move to another Club, MUST have a reference from the previous Club.
• Continual updates to Clubs’ sexual abuse prevention polices, practices, and trainings that align with best practices of healthcare and school-based settings.
• Impactful training and resources for Club youth and families focused on mental health and social-emotional development.

In summer of 2020, local Boys & Girls Clubs voted to adopt additional safety measures, to improve safety within Clubs. Many of these practices were already in place, however Boys & Girls Clubs determined these practices should be mandatory for all Clubs:

• Strengthening the reference check requirement to clarify that all Clubs obtain rehire eligibility information for all prospective staff or volunteers that previously worked at another Club before being allowed to be employed or volunteer at another Club;
• Standardizing of all Clubs’ Safety Committees to ensure that each and every one is being held accountable to the same metrics and responsibilities and;
• Formalizing the requirement that each Club prominently display key safety resources; information, including the Child Safety Helpline and Crisis Text Line

And much more. Learn more about safety policies and actions, and recent enhancements to strengthen safety at Clubs at https://www.bgca.org/about-us/~/link.aspx?_id=F5F1AB27E0F84ED68ABF2AE17575572F&_z=z