BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. - Boys & Girls Clubs in Michigan have begun a community based project, Children Are Our Future, to enhance the educational and vocational awareness and preparation of vulnerable youth throughout the state. The Boys & Girls Club of Bay Mills is one of 11 clubs throughout the state serving as a lead agency and active partner in planning this initiative, according to a press release from Snell & Associates.
The project is funded by a $94,690 Planning Grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Mich. It is being directed by the Buffalo Grove, Ill. based consulting firm of Snell & Associates, the creators of the state wide project.
Children Are Our Future will focus on developing community based partnerships and coalitions in at least 20 Michigan communities comprised of professionals from well-established youth development agencies, local businesses, educational institutions, and other community stakeholders. The coalitions will identify and share "best practices" from various fields to address the longstanding needs for job readiness, effective career development and future employment opportunities for vulnerable Michigan youth.
Through these collaborative partnerships, communities will become empowered to identify, envision and develop solutions that meet their needs based on existing best practices and the knowledge and tools that they already possess.
According to the press release, program developers feel that an important component of the project is to help communities create issue-oriented change that will utilize best practices and existing community infrastructure. After each community has developed programs that meet their individual needs, the partnerships, led by Boys & Girls Clubs in each community, will develop a statewide plan of model programs and strategies for replication and implementation.
Boys & Girls Clubs throughout Michigan inspire and enable all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. Boys & Girls Clubs provide a safe place to learn and grow; ongoing relationships with caring, adult professionals; life-enhancing programs and character development experiences; and hope and opportunity. The clubs in Michigan are part of a national movement serving more than 4.4 million youth in some 3,700 locations throughout the U.S.A. and on U.S. military bases worldwide.
Snell & Associates is a national fund raising consulting firm for nonprofits established in Illinois in 1995. Their consulting skills and expertise are derived from successfully managing annual, capital and endowment campaigns in rural and metropolitan settings. Their consultation is designed and recommended based upon a local agency's needs and wants as well as from concrete data gathered from assessments, strategic planning, board and staff development and training, in addition to conducting planning and feasibility studies. Snell & Associates staff is comprised of knowledgeable former not-for-profit executives with nearly a century of collective experience in the industry.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 "to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations," according to the press release. Its programming activities center around the common vision of a world in which each person has a sense of worth; accepts responsibility for self, family, community, and societal well-being; and has the capacity to be productive, and to help create nurturing families, responsive institutions, and healthy communities.
To achieve the greatest impact, the foundation targets its grants toward specific areas. These include: health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Within these areas, attention is given to exploring learning opportunities in leadership; information and communication technology, capitalizing on diversity, and social and economic community development. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.
For additional information, contact Mr. Isaac "Ike" Snell, Jr. of Snell & Associates at 630-532-2202.
