Boys & Girls Clubs of Rochester

The Club was founded in the summer of 1971 with the encouragement of Paul Miller, Chairman of Gannett Newspapers and then a national board member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.  The first facility was the Ritter-Clark Memorial Building on the old Rochester Institute of Technology campus.  This was made possible by a $1.5 million dollar fund campaign which culminated October 1, 1972.  Pioneer benefactors were the Emmet Blakeney Gleason Memorial Fund, the Frank E. Gannett Newspapers Foundation, the Eastman Kodak Company, the Xerox Corporation, F. Ritter Shumway, Gilbert McCurdy, and the Marie C. and Joseph C. Wilson Foundation.

In November 1980 the Club acquired the current facility at 500 Genesee Street, and, after a $600,000 renovation, the Club reopened October 6, 1981 in the heart of the city’s southwest quadrant.  On March 10, 1989, the upgraded, regulation sized gymnasium was named after the late Dick Ricketts, an All-American athlete and Kodak executive, thanks to a grant from the Eastman Kodak Company.  Since 1985, the Club has been supported in part by the United Way of Greater Rochester.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Rochester (Club) has served as one of the beacons of the Southwest community for over 55 years giving youth a safe place to be after the school day ends.  One point one million elementary students are left unsupervised after school according to the Afterschool Alliance.  The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Rochester is to help youth of all backgrounds, with special concern for those from disadvantaged circumstances, realize their full potential as productive, responsible caring members of society. 

For nearly 55 years the Club has been opening doors for opportunity and preparing young people for great futures. We see possibilities in every young person and are committed to being a voice for all youth. Operated by trained youth development professionals who engage all youth from a trauma-informed perspective, our formula for impact guides staff in helping young people achieve positive outcomes in three priority areas: academic success (achieving annual milestones, graduating from high school, ready for college, trade school, military, or employment); good character and citizenship (being an engaged citizen involved in the community, registering for and participating in voting, modeling strong character); and healthy lifestyles (adopting a healthy diet, practicing healthy lifestyle choices, and making a lifelong commitment to fitness). We also provide a variety of Arts programming, designed to enable youth to develop their creativity and cultural awareness through knowledge and appreciation of the visual arts, crafts, design, performing arts, and creative writing.

More specifically, we achieve these outcomes by offering daily evidence-based programming in literacy, reading practice, STEM, sports, workforce development, social-emotional, and project-based learning. Our organization embodies trauma-informed practices, from our policies and procedures to the training of staff. Our programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling: a sense of confidence (the feeling there is something youth can do and do well); a sense of usefulness (the opportunity to do something of value for other people); a sense of belonging (a setting where young people know they fit in and are accepted); and a sense of power and influence (a chance to be heard, and influence decisions).