Out-of-School Programs

Out-of-school hours that are unsupervised are well-known to be the period of time when children and teens are most at-risk for engaging in risk behavior or being exposed to crime. In fact, this is when they're:

  • More likely to participate in anti-social behaviors
  • More likely to use drugs
  • More likely to become teen parents

The Y is there for them across Central Maryland in schools, camps and Y sites providing fun, enriching, properly supportive and challenging activities that help build character and confidence for life. We are there for the child whose parents, like many of us, are working hard to manage busy, demanding lives amidst the normal stresses of everyday life. We are there too for children and teens who are struggling to overcome life circumstances which present even bigger challenges.

Young people in underserved neighborhoods in Baltimore and throughout Central Maryland often have to deal with a cascade of problems which would challenge even the sturdiest among us. The conditions of poverty and its attendant social ills create fundamental instability and uncertainty in ways that are hard to imagine for most of us. Just getting to school safely each day can pose a set of challenges that requires more of these young people than is expected of most adults on any regular basis.

In our Centers or in any one of our dozens of school sites and camps across the City and throughout Central Maryland, children and young people coming from particularly challenged and often unstable family and social environments can count on a stable and safe haven in the Y after school and during the summer months. At the Y they encounter rich programs and well-trained staff who guide them to explore new ideas, exercise, reinforce lessons learned in school, make new friends and, perhaps of greatest importance, take comfort in the physical and psychological safety of knowing they are in a place where they are cared about, welcomed, respected and loved.

Y Journeys in Enrichment Before & After School
Serving At-Risk Youth and Families

 

Our vision of "A Healthy Y for a Healthier Central Maryland".

Opportunities for community engagement.

Providing Y experiences for all.

Protecting youth during out-of-school hours.