Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center, Inc. (BGACDC)

In 1978, parents living in the Delta town of Marvell, Arkansas helped form the Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center, Inc. (BGACDC), a grassroots non-profit organization that aims to improve the overall quality of life for the poor, mainly African American residents. [ [http://bgacdc.net/content/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 Boys Girls Adults Community Development Center - Home ] ]

Today, the BGACDC serves as the center of community life in Marvell. Volunteers, supporters, and BGACDC staff work together to achieve goals no one thought possible. Students of the Marvell School District are tutored daily through the Center's after-school programs, units of affordable housing have been built and rented out to area residents, the Center's Best Food in Town (BFT) restaurant offers hot food and job opportunities to the Marvell community and students each year participate in the BGACDC's Freedom School program gaining valuable youth leadership and academic experience.

Mission

The mission of BACDC is to provide social, recreational, economic, health and housing opportunities for low and moderate income residents living in the Marvell School District. [ [http://bgacdc.net/content/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 Boys Girls Adults Community Development Center - Home ] ]

The organization’s vision is to keep the promise of tomorrow by providing family-centered services designed to empower and make a positive difference in the daily lives of Marvell-area residents. The core programs of BGACDC provide increased access to educational and employment opportunities, improved housing, better health care, and enriched education for youth in after-school and summer day programs.

Goals

Youth & Family Development: To support and assist families in the Marvell School District to raise and nurture their children into healthy, capable and caring adults.

Housing Development: To increase the supply of affordable, safe and attractive housing in the city of Marvell.

Community & Economic Development: To create a community that provides individuals and families the opportunity to be economically and politically independent.

Honors and Awards

Executive Director Beatrice Clark Shelby received a [http://leadershipforchange.org/awardees/awardee.php3?ID=212 2004 Leadership For a Changing World] nomination for her work with the Center and the Marvell community.

For her signal efforts on behalf of her community, Beatrice Clark Shelby was nominated for the Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Award. In 1993, she became one of the award's first group of recipients. Ms. Shelby used the $100,000 that came with the award to build staff and board capacity through workshops and classes in such areas as leadership, computers, the Internet, marketing, bookkeeping, grant writing, and management. [ [http://www.rwjf.org/reports/npreports/chlpShelby.htm RWJF - Grant Results ] ]

References