OUR STORY
1972-73: Boys Club of Pueblo, Inc. had its origins in a public housing community center. The following year, the Girls Club of Pueblo, Inc. began serving girls from a 2-bedroom apartment in the same public housing complex. Both organizations maintained an affiliation with their respective national organizations Boys Clubs of America, Inc. (now known as Boys & Girls Club of America, BGCA) and Girls Club of America, Inc. (now known as Girls Incorporated, Girls, Inc.).
Mid-Seventies: Both Clubs became
United Way agencies.
1991: Boys Clubs of America officially recognized girls in its Movement and became Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA). BGCA purchased the rights to the Girls Club name and Girls Club changed its name to Girls Incorporated.
Based on changes at the national level, board leadership from the Boys Club of Pueblo and Girls Club of Pueblo came together to determine the best way to meet the needs of young people in
Pueblo
County and leverage limited resources. The two separate corporations merged in 1991, but retained affiliations with BGCA and Girls Inc.
1994: The
Eastside
Center opened with State Violence Prevention Funds.
1999: At the request of a Club in the
Lower
Arkansas
Valley, a Management Agreement was formalized with our corporation to reopen their small rural Club. The
Rocky
Ford
Center opened in May 1999. In addition, in 1999 a
Teen
Center and the
Avondale
Center were started.
2001: The
Quinn
Center opened its doors in April 2001 on
Pueblo’s west side.
2003: May 2003, our
Teen
Center closed due to discontinued federal funds.
2009: August 2009, organization consolidated sites to focus on long term stability and high quality programs. Current sites include Avondale,
East Side, and Sprague.
November 2009, the agency disaffiliated with Girls Inc. and changed its name to Boys & Girls Clubs of Pueblo County.