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Girls Incorporated of Jacksonville 1627 Rogero Road Jacksonville, FL 32211 Phone: (904) 731-9933 Fax: (904) 731-9934 Our mission: Inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and boldsm
Our vision:
We envision a community where each girl
can reach her greatest potential.
  With roots dating to 1864, national status since 1945 and a local presence in Jacksonville since 1970 (formally known as the Girls Club), Girls Inc. is a national nonprofit youth organization that delivers programs through a network of 1,500 program sites throughout the United States and Canada. These sites include schools, community centers and 73 Girls Inc. affiliate member organizations. Nationally, Girls Inc. reaches over 800,000 girls through affiliates, the website and educational publications.
Philosophy & Mission & Vision
With a national vision of empowered girls and an equitable society and our mission of inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold, Girls Incorporated of Jacksonville is dedicated to girls aged six and up to be self-confident, responsible and well-rounded individuals by delivering research-based, age-appropriate, after-school and summer educational and sports programs. We believe passionately that every girl is entitled to the opportunity to envision her best self as well as give her the tools she will need to become the person she wants to be.
The primary areas of Girls Inc. programming focus on literacy, math and science, career and life planning, health and sexuality, leadership and community action, sports and adventure, self-reliance and life skills, and culture and heritage. Girls Inc. programs are designed to serve all girls regardless of a girl’s socio-economic, ethnic or religious background. Appreciation of diversity and acceptance of others is at the core of the Girls Inc. philosophy. The organization prides itself in offering girls multi-cultural experiences in a safe and harmonious environment.
Local History
Girls Incorporated of Jacksonville (formerly Girls Clubs of America) began as a project of the Pilot Club of Jacksonville. It was incorporated in 1970 and became affiliated with the Girls Clubs of America in 1971. Our first club was located in the Brentwood Housing Development, where we continually maintained a presence until 2004, when the Hope VI Project interrupted our work. In 1990, Girls Clubs of America changed their name to Girls Incorporated on national and local levels. Girls Inc. of Jacksonville has three after-school centers, one in St. Nicholas - Spring Park and the Spring Park Teen Center and one site in Arlington area. During the summer we have summer camp at both of these locations. During the school year Girls Inc. holds at literacy based after-school program entitled GIRLStart at Lake Lucina Elementary School in the Arlington area. GIRLStart works with kindergarten and first grade girls specifically.
Today, Girls Incorporated of Jacksonville serves more than 1,700 girls everyday in after-school programs and summer camps. Our after-school programs provide a supporting, safe environment, offer homework assistance, and enrichment activities like dance, computer, art, story telling, theatre, and karate. In addition too our after-school programs, Girls Inc. of Jacksonville reaches more than 800 girls in our Outreach programs that build self-confidence, self-esteem and help girls make better life decisions.
National History
The Girls Incorporated movement started during the Industrial Revolution as a response to the needs of a new working class: young women who had migrated from rural communities in search of newly available job opportunities in textile mills and factories. The oldest Girls Incorporated affiliate, formed in 1864 in Waterbury, Connecticut, provided programs not only for young working women but also for younger daughters who had no place to go. Each center created a homelike atmosphere at a time when wages were low and there was little money to spend on recreation. Programming in the early days focused on recreation and on preparing girls for their future roles as wives and homemakers. There were courses in cooking, sewing, knitting and manners while some centers offered dramatics and swimming.
Today, Girls Inc has programs that focus on science, math and technology, health, economic and financial literacy, sports skills, leadership and advocacy for girls ages 6 to 18 years old throughout the United States and Canada. In 2005, Girls Inc. reached nearly 800,000 girls through its 92 affiliates, website and educational programs.
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