NVS Building Communities Program

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NVS Building Communities Program is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that offers youth and
families quality recreational activities and life skills workshops. It was founded in 2017 by
Nicole and Victor Smith, community advocates who saw a unique opportunity to address the needs of the most vulnerable in their surrounding community.

NVS Building Communities Program’s mission is to develop basic life skills and foster healthy
physical activity habits for our youth and families. We offer a variety of life skills programs,
educational resources, and recreational activities. Our vision is to bridge the relationship between the community at large and its businesses, law enforcement agencies, city officials, educational institutions and other community resources. These collaborative efforts will allow the community to create lasting relationships leading to collective growth. To this end, NVS Building Communities Programs has several partners and MOU’s such as our after school tutoring program with the Clayton County Library system and our lauded gardening program with Emory University’s Urban Health Initiative.

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NVS’ unique approach involves several programs centered around ensuring that all members of our community have the basic skills needed to fully participate in their lives and successfully contribute to their community. We work with individuals and families to teach the basics of financial literacy through workshops and seminars as well as an introduction to entrepreneurship and courses on workforce development.

Additionally, we provide a variety of sports and fitness activities including football, golf, and tennis.  Our recreational activities have impacted the community by reducing hunger, improving community and family involvement and improving health.

At NVS we know that ensuring community youth have a healthy leisure outlets for their creativity and energy is an important step towards long-term community improvement. Discipline, self-esteem, and leadership are all qualities that are fostered in our youth-focused recreational arts and crafts and film programs.  As a result of our efforts, we have experienced exponential growth, with the number of families we serve increasing by 100% over 6 months/years. As we build trust in our community we have seen high retention rates across our program offerings with a steady increase in parental engagement, an indicator of program effectiveness and longevity. There has been a marked increase in the health and weight indicators for program participants as evidenced by an average of  6.5 hours of physical activity per week among participants. Over first year of existence NVS has fed over 1500 meals and snacks to the community.

Our increasing number of collaborative partnerships mean that we can strengthen our existing
programs thus increasing their impact and effectively harness the full gamut of community resources, such as Clayton Parks & Recreation, Clayton Public's, M.A.D. tutoring, Gavel Club and more.  Over the years our goal is for the youth and families to travel out of state and internationally. 

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