Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound provides not only a positive place for kids, but also a place of hope. HOPE — a Home of Opportunity, Possibility and Empowerment — is a little acronym with a big meaning for the Boys & Girls Clubs. Sept. 6, 2007 marked a major milestone for our organization, as we celebrated the dedication of the first of several community HOPE Centers in the South Puget Sound area.
The Gary and Carol Milgard Family HOPE Center in Lakewood is the first of its kind in the South Sound region, based on the collaboration of many partners working on behalf of youth and families. The HOPE Center in Lakewood opened alongside the new Lakeview Elementary School, which is set to begin classes next year. The partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound and Clover Park School District has allowed for collaboration between the two entities and their facilities, creating what will become an integrated campus that will allow us to maximize the use and provide services during the morning, day and evening for the kids and families in the community.
While the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound will be the anchor tenant in the Gary and Carol Milgard Family HOPE Center, other groups will be there, too, including the Korean Women’s Association, Lakewood Family Support Center, The Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Program, Child & Family Guidance Center, Kids at Hope Northwest Regional Center, Operation Military Kids and Safe Streets. The tenants in each HOPE Center will vary, depending on the specific needs of each new, unserved community.
Staff members at the Boys & Girls Clubs are more than just caring, trained individuals — they are treasure hunters, committed to searching for the talents, skills and intelligence that exist in all children and youth. The clubs have embraced the Kids at Hope philosophy: All kids are capable of success, no exceptions. Because of this shared belief, Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound is proud to be a founding partner of Kids at Hope.
While Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound is striving to change how nonprofit agencies can work together for the greater good of the entire community, one thing will never change: Children will always remain our primary focus. Our investment in the HOPE Centers is an investment in our most precious natural resource — our young people.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound is a ParentMap Giving Together partner. To learn more or get involved, call 253-502-4600 or visit www.bg-clubs.com.
