Health and Wellness

SMART Girls: An outgrowth of the popular and effective SMART Moves program, SMART Girls is a health, fitness, prevention/education and self-esteem enhancement program for girls ages 8 to 17.

SMART Girls is a small-group health, fitness, prevention/education and self-esteem enhancement program designed to meet the developmental needs of girls. Through dynamic sessions, highly participatory activities, field trips and mentoring opportunities girls explore their own and societal attitudes and values as they build skills for eating right, staying physically fit, getting good health care and developing positive relationships with peers and adults.

SMART Moves

The SMART (Skills Mastery and Resilience) Moves program is a nationally acclaimed prevention program originally developed in the 1980s with help from prevention specialists and Clubs around the country. Newly revised in 2011, the program incorporates the latest information and approaches about effective prevention. Participants will be exposed to various activities designed to hone their decision-making and critical-thinking skills, as well as learn how to avoid and/or resist alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and premature sexual activity.

SMART Leaders is a booster program to SMART Moves. This program keeps teens involved in the SMART Moves program after Stay SMART, reinforces skills and knowledge youth learned in SMART Moves and prepares teens as leaders to help their peers resist using alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, as well as postpone sexual activity.

Date SMART

A program for helping teens learn how to achieve mutually supportive relationships free of violence and abuse. The program also encourages youth to become community advocates for relationships that promote equality and respect while combating the attitudes and behaviors that lead to dating, sexual and domestic violence.

Substance Abuse Prevention

We recognize the devastating impact of substance use – in particular, the opioid epidemic. The Opioid and Substance Use Prevention program was developed in collaboration with Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, a national nonprofit committed to helping families struggling with a child’s substance use. The Partnership provides information and support that empowers parents to offer the guidance their loved ones need and deserve.

Grief Support

Grief is an all too familiar experience for many of the young people we serve. Nearly 1 in 15 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18, and the vast majority will experience the loss of a family member or friend by the time they complete high school.

Utilizing The Be There initiative and local community partners, we build supportive relationships and integrate best practices in supporting youth experiencing bereavement and other major life-altering losses.

Delinquency Prevention

Youth are directed to positive alternatives, and learn about violence prevention. We collaborate with local partners to mobilize resources, recruit hard-to-reach youth, mainstream them into appropriate Club programming and monitor their progress through modified case management. Teen REACH is one of the grants through the state of Illinois that is a funding stream for these programs and OJP funding as a pass through grant from BGCA also assists with mentoring funding

Inclusion

Our focus is to create a safe, positive and inclusive environment for all youth of all abilities. No member is turned away due to special needs.

LGBTQ Inclusion Initiative provides a safe, positive and inclusive environment for youth, teens, staff and families of all sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions.

Bullying Prevention

The Be A STAR program, focused on social and emotional learning, gives Club members the tools they need to enhance their learning, decision making, creativity, relationships and mental health.

Creating a positive Club climate is an important practice for both staff and members to feel emotionally safe. The Club staff have embarked on a pro-kindness, anti-bullying movement, aimed at empowering a culture of kindness and encouragement among youth.

Street SMARTS – offers expanded lessons in bullying prevention, as well as an emphasis on resiliency training to give Club members, the skills they need to grow up confident, caring and responsible.