Annual Report 2020

As I reflect on the year of 2020, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for our Club kids & teens, staff, board members, and supporters like you who helped us navigate unrest and uncertainty during a global pandemic while advancing our mission to ignite the unlimited potential of Metro Atlanta youth.

This annual report highlights Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta (BGCMA)’s power of connection. Through the strength of our community, we continued to serve our mission by providing critical support to kids & families across Atlanta, we weathered the financial storm and ended the year in the black, brought back staff in fall 2020 who had been temporarily laid off during shutdown, recruited a new cohort of board members, and engaged a lot of volunteers.

For 2020, I am proud to report BGCMA’s big accomplishments that your support made possible:

• When faced with the challenges of COVID-19, we responded to the emerging needs of our kids and their families with urgency and agility. When school buildings were closed for in-person instruction, we launched “The Club” – a digital platform where more than 1,000 kids & teens learned and collaborated. We also opened our doors at nearly 20 locations, provided more than 120,000 snacks and meals, offered devices and virtual learning hubs, and implemented heightened safety protocols.
• We helped kids & teens process big changes and handle trauma. As our youth grappled with the adjustment to distance learning, social isolation, academic backslide and racial injustice, we hosted weekly “Safe Space” virtual discussions to provide a place for them to talk about their emotions and work through trauma. Sessions also focused on developing actionable ways kids and teens can make a difference.
• We expanded to serve more communities. We grew our partnership with At-Promise, a youth center initiative spearheaded by the Atlanta Police Foundation, and we launched our partnership with Purpose Built Schools, opening the first of our three, school-based Clubs in the Thomasville Heights Community. Because of the groundwork we set in 2020, we also expanded our footprint to serve kids in Clayton County at the Flint River Community Center Boys & Girls Club.
• We let our families know we care. We sent dozens of text blasts sharing critical resources and made more than 7,500 outreach calls to check on family wellbeing and assess the hurdles they faced during the pandemic. In many cases, we worked with individual families to connect them to needed resources.
• We ignited the unlimited potential of young people. Melissa (“Nila”) S. became our 2020/2021 Youth of the Year at the virtual gala held in November 2020. And our 2019/2020 Youth of the Year Kimberly Heard competed for the National title after being crowned Youth of the Year for the U.S. Southeast Region.
• We developed our 5-year strategic plan, RISE 2025.  In 2020, we concluded our rigorous examination of where we have been, where we are now, and where we want to go. In March 2021, we launched our plan for the next five years. RISE 2025 is our guide to rise and meet the challenges and opportunities before us as we strive to ultimately serve more kids, more often, and with greater impact. Learn more at www.bgcma.org/rise2025.