Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore (BGCMB) will open a Boys & Girls Club on the campus of Howard Community College (HCC) with a lead investment of $220,000 from the Office of the County Executive Calvin Ball to support year one of operations.
County Executive Ball announced the investment at a press conference on April 9, 2024, as part of $820,000 in the proposed fiscal year 2025 operating budget to launch and expand transformational youth programming in Howard County.
The partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore (BGCMB) and Howard Community College (HCC) will be a first of its kind in Maryland. In alignment with HCC’s mission, “providing pathways to success,” this program will offer Howard County middle and high schoolers learning opportunities geared towards academics, leadership growth, living a healthy lifestyle and being responsible, productive and caring residents.
“In partnership with County Executive Ball, we are proud to establish the Boys & Girls Club at Howard Community College, which will be the first Boys & Girls Club on the campus of a community college in Maryland and look forward to providing tweens and teens from the Wilde Lake community with enriching activities and life-changing opportunities under the guidance of our trained staff,” said Jeff Breslin, CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore.
The Club is expected to open in fall 2024 to serve 45 youth, ages 13 to 18. The Club will ultimately be housed inside HCC’s new Kahlert Foundation Complex, currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2025. Until then, the Club will operate out of a temporary location in the Mary Ellen Duncan Hall for English, Languages & Business.
The Club at HCC will mark BGCMB’s second location in Howard County. BGCMB also operates an after-school program at Laurel Woods Elementary School in Laurel.