A Better Start In Life
 To lift the poor out of poverty, we have to start with the youngest family members.
Children absorb the world around them like a sponge. That's why The Salvation Army provides programs for young people that give them a higher level of resources than they find in their homes and their neighborhoods.
Salvation Army community centers offer computer labs, libraries, tutoring, after-school programs, summer-long day camps, free summer lunch programs, free music lessons, Bible classes and Scout-type activities.
By providing a wide array of programs for youth, The Salvation Army is striving to change generations by giving children from poverty-stricken environments the chance to get a start in life in a very different place than where their parents may have begun.
Your contribution of money, volunteer time and resources enables The Salvation Army to help more and more needy families move from dependence to independence.
After-School Programs
 During the school year, single, working-poor parents have an important choice to make: find affordable child-care for their kids during the after-school hours, or choose to be jobless in order to care for their children.
The latter is an almost certain guarantee of continuing to live in poverty. The only remaining choice seems a financial impossibility, however, through The Salvation Army's After School programs, children of low-income parents have a safe place to go each day when school is out.
The Salvation Army's community center in the East Lake neighborhood provides a variety of educational and recreational activities for kids to participate in each weekday afternoon. Children may remain at the center as late as 8 pm to allow parents time to get off work and drive to pick them up.
Location, Phone & Hours:
2140 East 28th Street
Chattanooga TN 37407
423-698-4484
Monday – Saturday 3 - 8 pm
Athletic Programs
 At The Salvation Army, sports are about more than scoring touchdowns or getting a ball through a hoop. Youth athletic programs teach boys and girls valuable lessons about life.
In a short game of baseball, basketball or soccer, players encounter many of life's key ingredients: friendship and rivalry, bravery and fear, hard work and sloughing off, trusting and doubting, hanging tough and giving up, winning and losing.
Participants in organized athletic programs learn the meaning of integrity and fair play by being a part of a team and by competing against other teams. They learn there are rules to live by and consequences for breaking them. They learn how to win graciously, and how to lose without being crushed. They also learn that there are adults who care for them and who are willing to spend their time helping them to be better athletes and better people.
Young people can take these "lessons of the locker room" into their everyday lives and on into adulthood.
For some children in the inner-city, a coach might be the only person they know who is pointing the direction down the right road in life. Dedicated staff and volunteer coaches spend many nights and weekends in gymnasiums and on ball fields working with boys and girls from the at-risk neighborhoods near Salvation Army community centers.
The Salvation Army's subsidized athletic programs give parents living below the poverty level the opportunity for their children to participate in organized sports just like other kids.
Mentoring / Tutoring
 According to General Colin Powell and the America's Promise organization, children who work with a mentor are 46% less likely to start using drugs, 27% less likely to use alcohol, 33% less likely to hit others and 52% less likely to skip school. That's why mentoring is so important!
Volunteers and Staff give direct, one-to-one attention to the inner-city children who participate in the After-School program at The Salvation Army's community center in the East Lake area of Chattanooga. They spend time each day with each young person working on reading, math or a skill the child needs assistance with. Under the supervision of a mentor, these at-risk kids also complete their homework and have it checked before they go home.
At the end of each six weeks, the children are required to bring their report cards to the center to be checked by the director. Using this procedure, the director can determine specific areas in which individual children need help.
Children in the After-School program have increased their school grades by one or two letters, many going from a C to an A. By the end of the school year, many of the children are on the A/B Honor roll.
Scout-Type Programs
Children like to learn new skills and participate in exciting activities. Character building is the purpose of The Salvation Army's Scouting-type programs, which develop important life-skills in an atmosphere of fun and recognition.
Adventure Corps for boys and Sunbeams/Girl Guards for girls provide a chance for young people to earn badges while they learn and achieve new things.
 Adventure Corps
The Salvation Army Adventure Corps is a Christian education and development program designed for boys in grades 1 through 8. It is divided into two sections: Explorers for first through fourth grade boys, and Rangers for boys in grades 5 through 8.
Each section takes boys through a series of achievement badges and levels, helping them develop their individuality and potential.
Emblems & awards are in the following areas:
- Sports and Athletics
- Health and Safety
- The World Around Us
- Science and Technology
- Outdoor Living
- Arts & Crafts
- Family & Culture
- Bible & The Salvation Army
Sunbeams
Sunbeams is a Scout-type program open to girls in grades 1-5. This Christian girls' program offers a variety of interest areas designed for girls of this age group such as Arts & Skills, Health, Nature, Service, Personal Growth, Animals, Friendships and People.
 Girl Guards
Girl Guards is a Scout-type program for girls in grades 6 though 12 that focuses on helping them learn about themselves and their expanding world. It guides them toward spiritual, physical and social well-being, and helps them understand their potential as individuals. Educational trips and camping experiences are also an important part of this program.
Summer Camp
Each summer, The Salvation Army provides an opportunity for children from the Tennessee Valley to enjoy a summer camping experience that is fun, educational and inspirational.
 Camp activities include:
- Bible study
- Craft Classes
- Swimming
- Boating
- Nature Study
- Team Sports Activities
- Worship Services
- Evening Programs
Boys and girls who are active in Salvation Army community centers may attend a week at Camp Paradise Valley, The Salvation Army's Kentucky-Tennessee based camp in Dale Hollow Lake, KY located just one-hour north of Crossville, TN. Although the actual cost to attend a week at camp is as much as $160, the fees are subsidized allowing needy kids to attend for a fraction of the cost.
Summer Child Care
 Summers are a challenging season for low-income parents. Where do their children go?
Finding affordable summer programs for kids is always a challenge for working parents, especially if they have more than one child. Add to that the fact that some parents make barely enough money to get by each month, thus they do not have the excess funds to pay for daily child-care, which can be costly.
The good news is that The Salvation Army offers low-cost, summer-long child-care to give working poor parents a high-quality alternative to expensive daily child-care. At two locations in Chattanooga, The Salvation Army provides this important service from the time school is out in May until it starts back again in the fall.
The programs, known as "summer day camps," provide a safe place for working-poor parents to leave their children each day during the summer while they continue to hold down a job.
The Salvation Army makes arrangements for both fun and educational activities that the children can experience while in our care. Each year, financial sponsorships are needed from corporations and organizations to help underwrite field trips to exciting places such as the Creative Discovery Museum, The Chattanooga Zoo, The TN Aquarium, area museums, and sporting events like Chattanooga Lookouts baseball games.
The summer-long Day Camps have a positive impact on the lives of hundreds of at-risk youth, who otherwise would be left at home without supervision during the summer while school is out.
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