July 24, 2020
Dear Parents & Guardians –
I’m reaching out to share some difficult news. We have the made the decision to close the Samuel L. Jones Boys & Girls Club. We will not be reopening this fall.
For nearly 50 years, we have served kids and teens at the Jones Club. We’ve enjoyed getting to know you, your families, and this community.
Due to COVID-19 and the ripple effects of the pandemic, we are battling a tough financial landscape for the rest of this year and into 2021. We have been fortunate to keep our full-time staff employed throughout this crisis and engaged in critical work supporting kids and families. As we look toward 2021, we are planning for a sizable loss in funding and we are bracing for that now.
As we plan for the future, we are evaluating several of our Club locations in an effort to serve the most kids with a focus in the areas of greatest need. We plan to sell the current facility and relocate to a different space in an area with higher need, such as South DeKalb. We will be working with the DeKalb Board over the coming months to identify partnership opportunities to support this strategy. While we do not anticipate opening a relocated site until the fall of 2021, we hope you will be able to join us again.
We are proud of the staff that has served here at the Jones Boys & Girls Club. We are working to identify areas of need throughout the organization and doing our best to keep them in the Boys & Girls Club family.
This news is difficult to share and I’m sure much more difficult to hear.
We will be planning a goodbye party in the coming weeks where members, staff, and volunteers can come together. We’ll be sure to host this outside with safety precautions in place including required masks and social distancing. Stay tuned for details…
We appreciate you entrusting us with your kids and have enjoyed getting to know you and your families! We wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
John Strong
Executive Director
Samuel L. Jones Boys & Girls Club
jstrong@bgcma.org
Claire Guitton
Chief Operating Officer
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta
claire.guitton@bgcma.org