About Our Organization
The history of New Jersey seems to suggest that there
were always two separate and distinct Garden States:
“The Slave State of the North” and the first to pass civil
rights legislation; the last northern state to abolish
slavery and a valued stop on the “underground railroad;
resistance and bias against Hispanic immigrants
contrasted by one of the biggest Hispanic Heritage
celebrations in the nation; home to inventions and
industry in the northern areas of the state and strong
agriculture in the southern portions; great affluence and
degrading poverty; leaders in education and a sewer of
illiterate children. All of the above reflect a distinct
dichotomy making New Jersey unique in its social and
governmental institutions.
Paterson, Newark, Teaneck, Trenton, Camden and Jersey
City were the hubs of industry and beckoned immigrants
seeking work in the “New World.” And yet as industry
grew it somehow created a greater divide between the
haves and have-nots. And now a visitor can travel to any
downtown and see examples of industry, commerce and
sophistication and merely a few city blocks away find
New Jersey citizens living in squalor reminiscent of the
deep-south before civil rights.
With the sixth-largest population of immigrants in the
nation, the 1.75 million foreign-born individuals residing
in New Jersey account for 20.1 percent of the State’s
total population.
The number of residents of Latino or Hispanic origin is
expected to increase by nearly 30 percent. The
Department of Labor and Workforce Development
estimate that 94 percent of New Jersey’s population
growth by 2016 will be attributable to Hispanics while the
non-Hispanic white population is expected to decline.
25 percent of all New Jersey Hispanic teenagers live in
poverty; 26 percent of non-Hispanic blacks live below the
poverty line; while only 2 percent of non-Hispanic white
teens live in poverty.
The New Jersey Youth Club is designed to bridge the
divide that has relegated too many of its citizens to a life-
time of poverty and despair. The mostly African-American
and Hispanic children who live in daily horror are mostly
“good” kids. They’re the kind of teens who “just fall
through the cracks” of our educational and health-care
systems and are most likely to become a crime statistic.
We endeavor to reduce those numbers – save the
teenagers before they become victims or victimizers of
crime, drugs or teenage pregnancies.
Seven days per week there is an opportunity for these
young people to earn a “legal” dollar, escape their
environment, learn teamwork – how to follow instructions
– how to speak to people of different cultures – accept
delayed gratification – see how other people live – dream
about creating a healthy life for themselves – and
envision a life without the stresses inherent with poverty
and crime.
The New Jersey Youth Club is a self-sustaining not-for-
profit charity. We do not receive funding from any
federal, state or local government agency. Our teenagers
are, by-in-large, good kids who need guidance, direction
and chance to get away from their depressive
environments.
These mostly black and Hispanic teens should not
become a burden to society and none of them aspires to
become one. They have the same dreams as their white,
affluent counterparts: they want good careers, safe
homes, families, vacations, faith, love and respect.
The New Jersey Youth Club is one of those few agents
who give these young folks a chance to break the
poverty, prison, welfare cycle that has plagued these
areas for generations. And despite resistance from the
more affluent communities where we fund-raise, we are
determined to win our battle – one day at a time – one
teenager at a time.
The history of New Jersey seems to suggest that there
were always two separate and distinct Garden States:
“The Slave State of the North” and the first to pass civil
rights legislation; the last northern state to abolish
slavery and a valued stop on the “underground railroad;
resistance and bias against Hispanic immigrants
contrasted by one of the biggest Hispanic Heritage
celebrations in the nation; home to inventions and
industry in the northern areas of the state and strong
agriculture in the southern portions; great affluence and
degrading poverty; leaders in education and a sewer of
illiterate children. All of the above reflect a distinct
dichotomy making New Jersey unique in its social and
governmental institutions.
Paterson, Newark, Teaneck, Trenton, Camden and Jersey
City were the hubs of industry and beckoned immigrants
seeking work in the “New World.” And yet as industry
grew it somehow created a greater divide between the
haves and have-nots. And now a visitor can travel to any
downtown and see examples of industry, commerce and
sophistication and merely a few city blocks away find
New Jersey citizens living in squalor reminiscent of the
deep-south before civil rights.
With the sixth-largest population of immigrants in the
nation, the 1.75 million foreign-born individuals residing
in New Jersey account for 20.1 percent of the State’s
total population.
The number of residents of Latino or Hispanic origin is
expected to increase by nearly 30 percent. The
Department of Labor and Workforce Development
estimate that 94 percent of New Jersey’s population
growth by 2016 will be attributable to Hispanics while the
non-Hispanic white population is expected to decline.
25 percent of all New Jersey Hispanic teenagers live in
poverty; 26 percent of non-Hispanic blacks live below the
poverty line; while only 2 percent of non-Hispanic white
teens live in poverty.
The New Jersey Youth Club is designed to bridge the
divide that has relegated too many of its citizens to a life-
time of poverty and despair. The mostly African-American
and Hispanic children who live in daily horror are mostly
“good” kids. They’re the kind of teens who “just fall
through the cracks” of our educational and health-care
systems and are most likely to become a crime statistic.
We endeavor to reduce those numbers – save the
teenagers before they become victims or victimizers of
crime, drugs or teenage pregnancies.
Seven days per week there is an opportunity for these
young people to earn a “legal” dollar, escape their
environment, learn teamwork – how to follow instructions
– how to speak to people of different cultures – accept
delayed gratification – see how other people live – dream
about creating a healthy life for themselves – and
envision a life without the stresses inherent with poverty
and crime.
The New Jersey Youth Club is a self-sustaining not-for-
profit charity. We do not receive funding from any
federal, state or local government agency. Our teenagers
are, by-in-large, good kids who need guidance, direction
and chance to get away from their depressive
environments.
These mostly black and Hispanic teens should not
become a burden to society and none of them aspires to
become one. They have the same dreams as their white,
affluent counterparts: they want good careers, safe
homes, families, vacations, faith, love and respect.
The New Jersey Youth Club is one of those few agents
who give these young folks a chance to break the
poverty, prison, welfare cycle that has plagued these
areas for generations. And despite resistance from the
more affluent communities where we fund-raise, we are
determined to win our battle – one day at a time – one
teenager at a time.
| New Jersey Youth Club, Inc. "Sowing into America's Future" |
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