August 10, 2026
Summer at the Clubhouse
A safe place to gather, learn, and just be a kid
For a lot of kids, summer means a break in the routine. The steady rhythm of the school day falls away, and so do the familiar faces kids see every day. We work to keep that steadiness going at our clubhouse.
When school lets out, our doors stay open. Three days a week, the clubhouse becomes a place our youth can count on, somewhere to be with friends and mentors who know them well.
One of their favorite activities is Mr. Emmit's basketball camp. The kids work on their game, spend time with someone they look up to, and find out what they're capable of when a trusted adult is cheering them on.
Emmit has shared more than basketball. He also told our youth the story of Turtle Island that he grew up hearing, passing down something personal from his own tradition. After taking it in, the kids made their own clay Turtle Islands. The next day, they painted the part of the story that stayed with them most, a chance to return to what they'd learned and let it settle in.
Creativity has run through the whole summer. Between tie-dye, friendship bracelets, Play-Doh, and open tables of paint and paper, our youth have had room to slow down, follow an idea, and take pride in something that's theirs. For kids who spend much of the year being told what to do, that kind of ownership matters.
Some of that creativity comes with a lesson built in. Our youth have been decorating their own respect jars, part of an ongoing conversation about what respect looks like day to day. Each jar fills up with notes that recognize a friend for something kind they did, a simple way for kids to notice the good in each other.
More than any single activity, what we offer is a place. Somewhere safe and steady for our youth to gather, all season long.
