Daniels Mardak Boys & Girls Club S.A.F.E. Program

Nov 20th, 2008

The Daniels Mardak Boys and Girls Club has demonstrated a high capacity to touch the lives of Milwaukee’s at-risk youth with innovative programs and engaging staff members. The Daniels Mardak Club’s services range from providing a safe environment where Milwaukee’s youth can hang out after school to providing structured, evidence-based programming that contributes to the development of leadership skills and crime avoidance strategies. A crucial component of our approach is to empower youth, by allowing them to vote with their feet and directly chose the activities and programs that spark their interests. The Daniels Mardak Club places youth in direct ownership of their physical, emotional, and social development. While many youth initially attend the club to pursue fun activities, such as basketball or art programming, they often continue to participate based on the rewarding friendships they form with peers and staff. These relationships become the jumping off points to engage in programs that change lives. One such program is the Street SMART approach that focuses on gang prevention and conflict resolution by educating youth about the consequences of criminal behavior and advises them on how build social skills.