A growing region, a rising generation
Reaching across Wake and Johnston Counties, we serve one of North Carolina's fastest-growing regions — home to more than 1.5 million people and a rising generation full of potential.
Why This Region Matters for Young People
This is a place of contrasts: a fast-growing capital city, established suburbs, and rural towns. That range lets us meet young people wherever they are.
Wake County is North Carolina's most populous, anchored by our capital city and the Research Triangle. Johnston County is one of the state's fastest-growing.
But rapid growth comes with strain. The cost of living climbs, services stretch thin, and consistent after-school support gets harder to find. As the region grows, not every family grows with it. In the communities our Clubs serve, far fewer young people have the support they need to thrive.
Because great futures
don't just happen.
They start here.
Our Region by the Numbers
1 in 4
students is chronically absent
North Carolina's chronic absenteeism rate reached 25% in 2024, and runs higher for students from low-income families — a pattern that puts long-term academic and economic mobility at risk.
9
Clubs located where they’re needed most
Our Clubs are intentionally located in proximity to historically low-income neighborhoods, from southeast Raleigh to Selma to Wake Forest, where safe, enriching out-of-school time is hardest to find.
38%
growth in a single decade
Johnston County is one of North Carolina's fastest-growing counties, and demand for youth programs is rising right along with it.
60
years or local presence
Since opening our first Wake County Club in 1967, we've grown alongside the community we serve, and the need has grown too.
$7.50
annual membership keeps Clubs accessible to every family
Affordable membership keeps the doors open to every family in a region where the cost of living keeps climbing.
The region's needs are real: strengthening literacy, improving school-day attendance, expanding safe places for youth, and supporting families navigating a rising cost of living.
How We Show Up
In our Clubs, we don't just run programs — we build community. Our approach includes:
- Operating Club sites in neighborhoods where access to safe, enriching out-of-school time is limited.
- Partnering with schools, local governments, and community leaders across Wake and Johnston Counties to align around youth success.
- Adapting to local strengths and needs, whether that's after-school academics and STEM, summer learning, sports and recreation, or mentoring relationships.
- Connecting young people to what comes next, through workforce readiness and career exploration that start well before a first job.
Growing Where We're Needed Most
As Wake and Johnston Counties grow, so does our responsibility to the young people who call this region home. We're working toward a future where:
More kids graduate on time, ready for the next step.
More teens feel connected to a sense of purpose and community.
Every Club is a place where belonging, growth, and achievement happen.
Great Futures Start Close to Home.
When you invest in young people in Wake and Johnston Counties, you strengthen the whole community. Local support is what makes daily impact possible.
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