Boys & Girls Clubs of Venice

BGCV is partnering with Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles to bring our incredible music program to their communities. Both organizations are providing care at no charge to children of low-income families with essential workers, with a priority for single parent households. Giving children and teens that lack the ability to pay an opportunity to have access to high quality music education - something that isn’t readily available for low-income families - is vital to both organizations’ mission.

BGCV enables all people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens Bridging Generations Connecting Values.

One of over 4,300 Boys & Girls Clubs, our collective mission is to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. We accomplish our mission by providing a safe haven away from negative influences; an ongoing relationship with trained, caring adult role models; constructive, supervised programs that are sensitive to the needs of youth at-risk; guidance and encouragement in educational and career endeavors; positive programs that encourage strong values, self-esteem and a healthy lifestyle; a solid gang prevention and intervention initiative; a vision of life beyond adolescence; facilitation and reinforcement of a positive peer group environment; and family support. Our vision for the new Learning Center is to create a fun, stimulating environment, rich with technology, resources and opportunities that inspires learning. The new Learning Center will enable us to increase capacity, improve and expand our programs and continue to provide youth with the resources they need to build a solid platform to reach their full potential. To meet these needs, we have developed a multi-phased plan. The first three phases are renovating the following areas: main learning center, digital library/leadership room, and technology lab. The plans for the renovation project include: •Creating a synergy of existing spaces that will enhance the learning experience and supports educational success; •Increase access to technology, resources, opportunities and educational support; •Provide highly flexible spaces to encourage the constantly changing learning environment; •Incorporate a sustainable design to support energy-efficiency. As incredible as our facility is, our Learning Center is over-utilized and we have not fully accommodated for growth. We feel this inadequacy in every aspect of our core programs. Renovation and expansion of the Club’s Learning Center will enable the following: •A “learning center” where tutors and volunteers from the community can be matched to youth in need of additional educational help. Our members need a quiet place to do their homework after-school and there are few “quiet areas” where students can concentrate on schoolwork. Individual study carrels will allow privacy and study tables can be rearranged to accommodate groups. •Locker storage space: Currently there are no lockers storing personal items. On any given day, one can walk into the Learning Center and find walls lined with backpacks, books, and coats of dozens of youth that have no space to store these items. •A computer lab where youth could become more familiar with emerging technologies. Currently, 70% of our members are without computer and internet access at home and without home access students struggle to complete their homework causing them to fall further behind. The expansion of a computer lab would take the first step in addressing this need. •A meeting room where club members could meet with staff and adult mentors to discuss school performance. The Club’s group character and leadership groups would use the room for their meetings and to assist in planning community service activities. •Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books and the trend towards digital books is one that cannot be ignored and we are committed to maintain relevance in an ever-changing digital environment. Year-round reading programs and family literacy programs will be hosted in our new digital library.