3,500 At-Risk Kids S.A.Y. Yes to Leadership Development

"S.A.Y. Yes! is about interrupting the 'business as usual' cycle of poverty." - Ted Gandy, Here's Life Inner City National Director

NEW YORK, May 1, 2008—Statistics show that juvenile crime triples during non-school hours. Through S.A.Y. Yes! Youth Development Centers, some 3,500 inner-city kids are spending their after school hours developing good academic skills and integrity.

The first S.A.Y. Yes! Center opened in Los Angeles in 1994. Now, more than 170 S.A.Y. Yes! centers are in operation around the country, developing at-risk children into strong leaders. Operated by inner-city churches in partnership with Here's Life Inner City, the centers provide children tutoring, computer training, mentoring, Bible classes and other activities designed to nurture their development.

"S.A.Y. Yes! is about interrupting the 'business as usual' cycle of poverty-the seemingly hopeless downward spiral of children and youth in the inner city," said Ted Gandy, national director of Here's Life Inner City. Here's Life Inner City provides the curriculum, resources, and training for each locally-operated S.A.Y. YES! Center. "S.A.Y. Yes!  Centers don't just impact children. These centers transform entire families."

Since 1983, Here's Life Inner City and more than 1,200 partner churches and organizations have been responding to the growing epidemic of poverty and despair in the inner city. The wide-ranging efforts have provided the poor with food and other basic necessities, life skills, career development and youth development programs.

Here's Life Inner City, the urban ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, International, is dedicated to equipping churches to provide help and hope to the poverty-stricken in their communities. To partner with Here's Life Inner City's efforts to help inner-city kids, visit www.HLIC.org.

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