For over two decades, we have been a cornerstone of Miami-Dade County, providing a safe, enriching environment where children can discover their unique gifts and reach their highest potential.
We believe every child is a “Designer’s Original”—built uniquely with special talents. Our goal is to provide the village that helps them uncover those talents, offering academic support, sports, and life skills to families who need it most.
What started as a vision in 1999 has grown into a thriving community hub. Today, we proudly serve 80 after-school students and over 150 summer campers every year. We don’t just help kids with their homework; we focus on the whole child. By teaching self-respect, providing physical fitness through our sports programs, and offering healthy living initiatives like urban gardening, we give our youth the tools they need to break barriers and succeed.
“We must instill our children with the courage to know that their lives can change, and they can make a difference. It is ordinary people that make this community what it is.” — Founder’s Message
We empower students through hands-on training, science, math, and reading improvements.
We stress love and responsibility, replacing self-doubt with self-pride to guide kids toward a bright future.
As Teen Up-Ward Bound accomplishes its mission to “Build Strong Families” we strive to create an awareness of ways to overcome what has been identified in our children as a defect. This can be achieved by assisting the child to humbly comfort the truth. This confrontation can assist them to discover and face things that they don’t understand and have been rebelling against.
Teen Up-Ward Bound staff stresses love. The agency believes that Love is the activity that creates effects. The desire to want to create effects. The desire to want to create a pro survival effect and replace the lost of self pride. The lost of self respect is the beginning of a criminal future.
The goals are to teach the children to be responsible. To empower them through change of attitude, educational training, and to give them hope through returning faith into their lives. Faith is the understanding of how to create what you need to change. We must instill them with the courage to know that their lives can change, they can make a difference. It’ ordinary people that make this community what it is. We are the builder of our community and we must be in the process to maintain it.
We must foster a safe environment for children to grow and learn from their growing experiences. Knowing that experience is not always the best teacher. Taking positive instructions helps them not experience the negative things that society has to offer. Children learn what they live. The concept of “It takes a Village to Raise Our Children” employs the principles of Teen Up-Ward Bound.
Teen Up-Ward Bound finds the gift of each child and work with that gift. Each child is taught their gift is unique and special, just for them. The children are taught to love themselves, then they will respect others. The children will understand that each of us are built uniquely, “A Designer’s Original.”
The true measure of our program is where our students go after they leave us. We have served hundreds of families, watching our kids grow up to become successful teachers, administrators, social workers, and even NFL players. Many of our alumni frequently return to volunteer, continuing the cycle of giving back to the youth of Opa-Locka and Miami-Dade.
“Our services afford parents and caregivers the peace of mind to work and thrive, knowing their children are safe, learning, and having fun.”
