Gene Slay's Girls & Boys Club of St. Louis

For 95 years, Gene Slay's Girls & Boys Club has provided high-quality afterschool and summer programs to children ages 6-16 in under-resourced neighborhoods from South St. Louis. Our programs focus on six competency areas: Academic Support & Assistance; Athletics, Aquatics, & Recreation; Character Building; Healthy Living; the Arts; and College & Career Readiness, which, when taken as a whole, improve the academic and social-emotional lives of St. Louis youth. By offering our programs at little or no cost to families, we give youth access to programs that they otherwise wouldn’t have without GSGBC. We aim to provide a safe place where youth can dream their biggest dreams and grow to become the best part of our community. 

Our affordable sliding scale fee ensures that all families can have access to our programs, regardless of their financial situation. As such, no child is turned away.

In portions of our service area 47% of youth are living in poverty, 98% are eligible for free or reduced lunch, and 79% are reading below grade level. This area also has some of the highest levels of crime, poverty, dropout rates, and lack of access to healthy food options. Various national studies have found 2pm to 6pm is the peak time for youth to get into trouble with the law. We help disrupt this pattern in our community by providing access to a safe and productive place during the non-school hours.