Since 1929, the Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle, has started thousands of boys and girls of all races and creeds on the road to good citizenship, continuing to advance our mission to inspire all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
We accomplish this by providing after school, school vacation, holiday and summer programming to children and youth ages 6 to 18 from New Rochelle and surrounding communities. As part of a nationwide affiliation of local, autonomous organizations we work in conjunction with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to provide a broad range of programs in five core areas: Character and Leadership Development; Education and Career Development; Health and Life Skills; the Arts; and Sports, Fitness and Recreation. Our board of directors, staff and volunteers include many individuals who participated in the Club’s programming as children, and whose children or grandchildren now participate.
Two key programs are our homework help and computer learning services, both components of our Education and Career Development core program area. They affect almost a thousand of our members each year. Homework help provides individual assistance with daily assignments, group learning projects targeting specific educational areas by age or subject matter, and literacy support in conjunction with the America Reads initiative. The computer learning program provides individual assistance on the use of computers and group learning projects such as computer graphics.
Other highlight programs include our award winning co-ed Track & Field Team, The Remington Flyers; our Championship boys and girls Basketball Teams, The Remington Rebels and The Mascaro Magic; Dance; Music; Gymnastics; Karate; Photography; and an ongoing initiative to involve teenagers in both the Club and service to the community.
To address the most immediate threats of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and teen pregnancy that face young people in our community we have implemented programs based on the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s nationally acclaimed program SMART (Skills Mastery And Resistance Training) Moves prevention program. SMART Girls is a small-group program that utilizes a combination of informational and experiential learning activities to help female Club members, ages 8 to 14, develop healthy attitudes and lifestyles. Participants explore their own and societal attitudes and values as they practice life skills for nutritional eating, physical fitness, accessing the health care system, resolving conflict and building healthy mentoring relationships.
Passport to Manhood is a curriculum for adolescent boys that address several key areas of development while stressing and promoting positive values and behaviors. The program promotes and teaches responsibility for male Club members ages 11-14. At this critical and transitional time in their adolescence, boys are encouraged to adopt the character virtues that will give them a positive head start in their journey to manhood.
Our leadership development activities include a Counselor in Training program and Youth of the Year. The Counselor in Training program is for members between the ages of 14 and 18 who want to participate in a voluntary employment training program. The Youth of the Year program is a full year of individual and group programs culminating with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Youth of the Year Awards. It encourages 16 to 18 year old members to exhibit leadership qualities in all aspects of their lives including home and family, moral character, community, school, the Club, life goals, overcoming obstacles, poise and public speaking. Members have the opportunity to be recognized on the local, regional and national levels and earn college scholarships.
From the day the Boys & Girls Club first opened its doors in 1929 at Feeney Park (now the A.E. Mascaro Unit) in a building leased from the City, the Club’s progress has been marked by consistent efforts to meet the needs of our youth and the community at large. As the demands of the population increased, the Boys & Girls Club built the Remington Unit at 116 Guion Place, in 1939. In the early 1940’s the Club opened the South Side Unit in the basement of the Old Jefferson School on Weyman Avenue. In 1983, the South Side Unit was moved to a new building at 50 Weyman Avenue and in 2006 consolidated with the A.E. Mascaro Unit. In 2001 the Respect Extension was opened at 570 Fifth Avenue, the MacLeay Apartment Complex, buildings owned by the New Rochelle Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation.
In 2004, the Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle again expanded to meet the changing needs of the children and youth of New Rochelle by partnering with the Board of Education to provide after school programs as part of the 21st Century Program, a federally funded grant under the No Child Left Behind initiative, at the Isaac E. Young Middle School. In 2007, through another partnership with Iona College, the New Rochelle School District and other organizations in the community, a Youth Empowerment Program, called RISE, was established to meet the needs of middle school children. Today, the Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle serves almost 3,000 boys and girls a year.