Youth Services

As the leading anti-poverty organization, The Salvation Army wants to eliminate barriers to employment, and for families with young children that can mean safe, accessible childcare. Children ages two through five can be enrolled in any of our five licensed childcare centers throughout the city, a service that is free to low-income families. The centers operate Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm and offers children two nutritional meals and snacks each day along with educational activities including arts and crafts, music, and outdoor games.

Under the supervision of qualified childcare professionals, children graduate from the program ready to start kindergarten with an equivalent educational baseline as their peers.

Since 1923, Star Lake Camp has served tens of thousands of senior citizens and children from a wide range of backgrounds across the Greater New York area. For many children from low-income urban families, a trip to Star Lake may be their first-time experiencing nature, hiking, swimming in a lake, and the great outdoors. The Salvation Army invites local youth to attend the Star Lake Summer Camp at no cost; this allows the children to continue building their character and learning throughout the summer in a new environment outside their neighborhood. For seniors, a subsidized week at camp may be a rare outing, with time to spend in nature and with friends enriching their lives. No matter the side of camp you are on, youth or senior’s camp, the goal of Star Lake Camp is to foster independence, stimulate creativity, build relationships with peers, and enjoy fellowship in nature.

Our community centers are a safe place for neighborhood children, offering a nurturing and structured environment. Children benefit from homework assistance, character building activities, tutoring, and hot meals. Families of children in an of our after-school enrichment programs have easy access to other wrap-around services, like food pantries, financial assistance, and other social services.

In 1991, the Salvation Army partnered with the New York City Department of Education to create the GAINS After School Program, which provides a safe and supervised environment for under-served children and teens who are testing below grade-level. Students enrolled are typically living in poverty, homeless shelters, or otherwise difficult home environments and have their academic performance and future success impacted by their family’s situation. The GAINS intervention aims to help youth stay out of trouble and reach grade-level proficiencies, helping students lead successful lives, breaking generational cycles of poverty.

The GAINS program operates in five Community Centers in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Bushwick, Harlem, and Sunset Park. Annually, the program serves over 400 students between the ages of 6 and 18, running Monday through Friday from 3:00-6:00 pm for 38 weeks during the school year and provides full-day programming for the seven weeks over the summer.

The program provides academic support, life skills development, social and emotional learning, and opportunities for healthy recreation. The curriculum aligns with guidelines set by New York State, helping students improve academic performance and promoting positive study habits. Children receive dinner and snacks daily during the school year, ensuring they do not go to bed hungry, and during the summer they are provided all three meals, eliminating the summer hunger crisis for participants. Students take field trips, providing educational experiences they may otherwise not have access to.