El Toro Youth Center to get boost from Boys & Girls Club

After 70 years of serving low-income, high risk youth in San Jose, the Boys & Girls Club of Silicon Valley is coming to South County and bringing with it an arsenal of beneficial programs.
President Dana Fraticelli of the BGCSV confirmed Tuesday the nonprofit organization has initial plans to run its after-school services out of the El Toro Youth Center at 17620 Crest Ave. in northeast Morgan Hill, and is in final negotiations with Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County to take over operations. The BGCSV offers daily homework assistance, academic goal-setting and life skills training as well as gang prevention and early intervention, financial planning, nutrition, and technology skills building.
“It really is moving very quickly. Everything is falling into place beautifully in Morgan Hill,” explained Fraticelli, who this week was expecting to iron out the final details with San Jose-based Catholic Charities, which currently runs El Toro Youth Center through its Youth & Family Services department. “We’re excited to start working on a transition plan.”
Mayor Steve Tate called the new partnership a “perfect match” between the BGCSV and the El Toro Youth Center. Both organizations use after-school programs to help steer at-risk youth away from gangs and towards a pathway into college and a career. The El Toro Youth Center, opened on weekdays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., serves nearly 500 local youth and parents. But the small building holds a capacity of roughly 60 per day.
“I think it’s really beneficial,” Tate said. “We really appreciate everything that Catholic Charities has done since they took over in 2007 because it probably would have folded if they hadn’t. They’ve done a wonderful job, but it’s not really in their sweet spot … and it is in the sweet spot of the Boys & Girls Club.”
Tate, who sits on an informal board of advisors for the Youth Center known as Los Amigos de El Toro, said Catholic Charities will transition the management of the El Toro Youth Center to BGCSV by June.
“They are ready to hand it off,” Fraticelli added.
Principal Elvia Teixeira of P.A. Walsh Elementary School, which is just one block away from the El Toro Youth Center, said many of her students take advantage of the Center’s after-school programs.
“It’s been a wonderful relationship up to this point,” Teixeira said. “Many of our students go there for after-school supervision, for recreation and for homework help. More than anything it is for homework help.”
At P.A. Walsh, which has the highest percentage of Spanish-speaking families in the district, parents send their children to the Center as well as the on-campus afterschool programs at the YMCA and the Development Center.
The new development with the BGCSV comes nearly six months after the Youth Center, with a $130,000 annual operational budget set by Catholic Charities, along with assistance from the City of Morgan Hill, community members and businesses, was nearly forced to shut its doors due to a lack of funding. However, some last-minute fundraising by local community members helped keep the programs going.
The Youth Center, which was previously run by Community Solutions – a local social services nonprofit – and the Mexican American Community Services Agency known as MACSA, was also was forced to charge residents a $60 membership fee in order to stay afloat.
Meanwhile, the BGCSV has a 2013-14 annual operating budget of $3.6 million for its 11 clubhouse locations, which offer after-school programs throughout Silicon Valley, and soon South County, for children ages 6 through 18. Clubhouses are open after school until 6 p.m. during the school year, with some locations offering “teen nights.”
In 2012-13, the Club came in under budget with net income and no debt, according to finance information published on its website, while securing a $500,000 mortgage loan from Focus Bank for operating capital.
Each BGCSV location charges a sliding scale fee for membership, but has the capacity to offer scholarships for up to 60 percent of its members, according to Fraticelli.
“We really want to work on that so kids aren’t turned away because of an inability to pay,” Fraticelli said. “We want to serve as many kids as need us in Morgan Hill.”
The El Toro Youth Center, which the City dedicated $15,000 annually to help with operational costs, provides tutorial service with homework, computer literacy classes, arts and crafts, sports and other recreational activities. Parental classes include training and workshops such as study habits, and gang and drug prevention.
Fraticelli said BGCSV plans to expand on those existing services, using its five core program areas: Education and Career Development; Character and Leadership Development; Health and Life Skills; and Sports, Fitness and Recreation.
“We’re not looking to go in for a while. We’re looking to go in and stay for generations,” said Fraticelli. “We’re making a long-term commitment to Morgan Hill.”
Fraticelli said taking over operations of the El Toro Youth Center, which is housed in a city-owned building, is just the beginning of BGCSV’s bigger plans. She hopes to eventually relocate to a larger facility in town. The El Toro Youth Center can only handle roughly 60 members per day.
The Boys & Girls Club of Silicon Valley carries some impressive credentials: Approximately 95 percent of its Club members are on track to graduate high school, according to statistics published on the organization’s website.
Fraticelli, who has been with BGCSV for nearly two decades and served as president for the last six years, said the organization’s five-year strategic plan – started in 2011 – details “strategic growth and impact” outside of San Jose. In her CEO message, she specifically targets growth into Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
“We’d love to have them. They do a great job. They offer a lot. We need activities for young adults and that’s what they do,” said Gilroy Mayor Don Gage, who has spoken with Fraticelli. “We have Parks & Rec and the YMCA which both offer activities, so they would be another tool in the tool box.”
BGCSV started meeting with Gilroy community leaders, including Gage and Chief of Police Denise Turner, three years ago, according to Fraticelli. BGCSV, which is now part of Gilroy’s Gang Task Force, is still trying to work with Gilroy on finding an adequate facility to house their services.
Meanwhile, in Morgan Hill, things just fell into place.
“Our first priority is to serve low-income families who are underserved by other organizations,” said Fraticelli, whose organization’s membership breakdown includes 76 percent Latino and 99 percent of families with a household income of less than $40,000. “When we go in somewhere, we’re looking to become a fabric of those communities for generations and generations.”