Mission & Vision
Our Mission
To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.
Our Vision
Provide a world-class Club Experience that ensures success is within reach of every young person who enters our doors, with all members on track to graduate from high school with a plan for the future, demonstrating good character and citizenship, and living a healthy lifestyle.
Who we are
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County is committed to being the premier youth development program in our community, a low-cost or free resource available to all, providing a safe and welcoming environment where children and teens are respected and valued. Through afterschool, summer, prevention and intervention programs that meet the highest standards of quality, kids learn the academic, lifestyle, and citizenship skills they need now and that will result in positive outcomes for the rest of their lives.
From the Board of Directors and leadership to our dedicated branch directors and youth development specialists who work with our kids, this organization takes seriously and believes passionately in the truth that all kids deserve the opportunities it takes to have a bright future. It is our privilege and solemn responsibility to make this future available to as many young people as we can reach.
Core Values
Our values define how we as an organization think and work strategically with a laser focus on the wellbeing and success of the kids we have the privilege of serving. We have the COURAGE to make difficult decisions and protect all we serve. We CHALLENGE ourselves and each other to imagine all possibilities. We think and act BOLDLY to purposefully grow our mission.
Commitment to Inclusion
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County is committed to promoting a safe, positive, inclusive environment for all regardless of ability, identity, belief, age, and cultural background. We respect and value diverse life experiences and believe every individual should have equal opportunities to reach their full potential.
Our Great Past
Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s inception is traced to Hartford, Conn., with the formation of the Dashaway Club in 1860 by several women to serve needy boys in the community. The idea spread to other areas of the country, and the first Club to use “Boys Club” in its official title was Boys Club of New York in 1876. At this time, the Clubs served only boys. In 1906, the existing 50 Clubs joined together to form a national organization known as Boys Clubs of America. In 1956, Boys Clubs of America celebrated its 50th anniversary, and President Dwight Eisenhower gave the national organization a Congressional Charter—a rare honor bestowed on only a few non-profit organizations in our country’s history. In response to a growing need, the Boys Clubs began to serve girls. In 1990, the national organization officially changed its name to Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
In 1926, Fort Worth Rotary Club launched Panther Boys Club to serve young men in the community.
In 1935, a group of Fort Worth women met in an effort to address a delinquency problem in the north side of Fort Worth.
Historical pillars of our organization, Panther Boys Club and Fort Worth Boys Club merged on January 1, 1990, to become Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth. With support from Boys & Girls Clubs of America, it was also in 1990 that doors were opened to serve girls.
In 1959, Arlington Boys Club was started by the “100 Club,” a group of supporters who each pledged $100 and began operating out of a rented house on Abram Street.
In 1968, the Boys Club erected a new building on a park site at 608 North Elm Street and served 1,000 youth. Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington continued to grow to meet the needs of at-risk youth in Arlington through four branches and 14 school sites.
In 2018, following months of careful consideration, the board leadership of the two organizations agreed that in order to best serve the increasing demands of kids and teens in the Greater Tarrant County area, consolidating the remarkably similar organizations made sense for the mission. The boards of directors of the respective organizations officially voted to consolidate into one organization.
On October 1, 2018, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth and Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington joined forces to form Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County, combining their collective resources to make a more powerful and positive impact on more youth across the area with programs of increasing diversity and quality. Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County is expanding its reach each year, impacting youth in the area through after-school programs in 11 branches and 15 school sites and providing innovative and progressive programming in dozens of partner schools across the county.