SCM expanded its youth program this year by creating a Boys’ Club and a Girls’ Club to provide mentoring communities where SCM youth can grow in self-reliance. The Boys’ Club meets on alternate Wednesday evenings for two hours under the leadership of a male SCM staff member. The boys, who come from single-female-parent households, develop a productive relationship with an adult male and learn how to work and play in community.

A young, single mother of a student in SCM’s afterschool program, along with an SCM staff member, leads the Girls’ Club, which meets on every other Monday evening.  Teen pregnancies are far too frequent in Shaw and the purpose of this club is to educate young women on how to avoid unintended pregnancies and life beyond the neighborhood.  

A partnership with Planned Parenthood has been formed to educate boys and girls in sex education, teen pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted diseases, low risk behaviors and making good life choices.   

For both groups, the clubs provide a place to hang out and feel safe.  The Shaw neighborhood is often wracked with violence and our youth grow up with the constant sound of sirens and gun shots.