Who are we?
Beacons is a network of partnership between four community organizations including the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities. Beacons began operating in Minneapolis in 1998 as an adaption from the successful New York Beacons Initiative.

Beacons transforms schools into active youth centers after school providing free high quality youth development activities with an emphasis on:

• Academic achievement
• Youth Leadership
• Family engagement
• Community-school connection

Each year Beacons serves over 2500 young people and their families at our 8 Beacons centers located in north, northeast, and south Minneapolis

The Beacons Youth Development strategy emphasizes building positive relationships’ building on strengths, skill building, positive decision making, and connection to positive peers and adults.

Boys & Girls Clubs is a national organization whose mission is to “enable all young people’ especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.”

Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence.

Boys & Girls Club programs emphasize social skills development through social/recreational activities, character and leadership development, health and life skills, and the arts. Boys & Girls Clubs pride themselves on being the Positive Place for Kids. 

Together the partnership of Beacons and Boys & Girls Club and emphasizes the maximum capacity for development and potential for the young people we work with and for. Our partnership enables our programs to combine social recreation, academic success, character and leadership development, community engagement and involvement, family engagement, the arts, health and life skills and other elements to meet our goals.

What do we do?

• We offer after-school programs and enrichment such as cooking class, tumbling, spoken word, mentorships, yoga, step team, scholarshipsm and dance
• We provide a safe and welcoming space where students and staff can interact and build positive relationships, while learning or improving skill sets.
• We provide a snack after school for any and all students with a Boys & Girls club membership.
• We are provided with transportation by the Youth Are Here circulator bus. 

When do we offer program?
We offer program from 3-6pm Monday-Friday 

Where can students and staff find us?
We are located in The Boys and Girls Club, Room 021 

Why is what we do so important?
We provide a safe space and opportunities for young people to develop and be developed. Our programs emphasize leadership and character development and potential for every young person. We build positive relationships and emphasize positive decision making and inside of that we can create an environment where:

• Youth will be productive
• Youth will care about themselves, their community, and the world
• Youth will be responsible