Boys & Girls Club of Cabarrus County Serves Community as a "Beacon of Hope"
The past year and a half have been unprecedented, to say the least. Among those most impacted by COVID-19 are families, especially low-income families, as parents have struggled with the added burden of finding a safe space for their children while they continue to work. The Boys & Girls Club of Cabarrus County recognized that local families were in need of additional support and adapted to be able to best serve its community.
The Boys and Girls Club of Cabarrus County was established in 1946 as a local chapter of the national non-profit aimed at providing programs that empower children and give them the resources necessary to succeed. Facing capacity issues while trying to accommodate all of the community's children in need of support, the club decided to expand its existing facility in Concord, NC. CAHEC New Markets provided $9.5 million of New Markets Tax Credit allocation to help finance the expansion which opened in August 2020.
When the pandemic began, the club began to plan for ways in which it could alleviate the burdens on families. The club began to serve hot meals to families via curbside pickup, waived all fees and refunded any that had been paid, and offered a safe environment for socially distant virtual learning by utilizing the new expansion space. The expansion project includes a full kitchen and cafeteria, allowing the club to increase its food program to provide hot meals and snacks to members, of which 76% are considered low-income. The club served approximately 2,100 meals to youth weekly as well as a total of 99,125 meals in 2020. The upcoming Summer program will also provide over 250 families in need with childcare at no charge.
Parents in the local community have been grateful for the support that the club has provided. One local father said: "I want my daughters to feel comfortable and safe in the place where they are and it's always been like that since day one." Another parent expressed her gratitude through the following: "I really did not know what I was going to do. I felt like I was holding my breath. Being a working mom the Boys and Girls Club has relieved a lot of anxiety that I went into the school year with.”
The 29,112 square foot expansion provides space for the club to increase daily capacity from 450 year-round students to 750. Annually, the club is now able to serve 2,200 children which is a 69% increase from the previous capacity. Although the added space has been beneficial to the club during the pandemic, the staff at Boys & Girls Club are eager to welcome all children back and resume all regular activities. To learn more about all of the programs that the Boys & Girls Club of Cabarrus County provides, visit its website at https://www.bgclubcab.org.

About CAHEC New Markets

The New Markets Tax Credits program is designed to stimulate economic and community development and job creation in low-income communities by attracting investment capital from the private sector. CAHEC created CAHEC New Markets, LLC, to focus on utilizing our New Markets Tax Credit allocations to help finance community facility projects throughout the Southeast. To learn more about CAHEC New Markets, visit our website.
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