NSCI About Us

History
Annual Report
Directors & Advisors
Credentials & Awards
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President's Letter

Who We Are

Neighborhood Service Council (NSC) is a non-profit corporation devoted to rescuing at-risk children and inspiring them to achievement. It serves children who live in the low-income, high-crime rate apartment complexes east of the Coit Road-Spring Valley Road intersection of North Dallas. Since 1989 NSC has provided, for latchkey children whose parents cannot afford regular day care, a free after-school camp program, with tutoring, and also a free summer day camp. In addition, NSC provides other benefits on a year-round basis, such as referring parents to community services they might not otherwise know about.

Why We Are Unique

NSC cares for children, but it is much more than a caretaker because it propels the kids to higher academic achievement and better social relationships. Moreover it is an example of enlightened private action in situations often left up to government agencies.

How We Do It

NSC's after-school program, Adventure Time, admits elementary school students, ranging from those in kindergarten through 6th grade. The NSC van picks them up at their schools and transports them to NSC's Activities Center. The children do homework, read aloud, play games or do crafts until their parents come to pick them up. Also NSC is in charge of another after-school program, Tweens, for selected 5th and 6th grade girls. This takes place at their school.

NSC's summer program, My Time, admits children ranging in age from 10 to 15, a period of life where they are vulnerable to joining gangs. A free day camp, it operates between 8 AM and 6 PM. There are frequent visits to City of Dallas facilities--swimming pools, gymnasiums and the public library. Counselors introduce the young people to new skills and instill good patterns of behavior.

NSC co-sponsors a soccer league for children in the community it serves. It is the only organized athletic league available to these children. NSC also offers six informal evening parenting classes during the year.

Who Does The Work?

NSC functions with three full-time employees--the Executive Director, the Program Director. and the Administrative Assistant--and several part-time counselors. The rest of the work is done by hundreds of volunteers--tutors, coaches, librarians, craft instructors, musical directors, aan fund raisers, for example.

Why Do The Volunteers Do It?

NSC volunteers do what they do for the reasons one might expect: "It' my religion," or "It's the right thing," or "I love to watch the kids develop." Here is the way one van driver put it: "As I watch the kids boarding the van, I think, 'if they weren't getting on this van, where would they be going, who would be teaching them, and what would they be learning?'"

What Are the Results?

Hundreds of NSC "alumni have gone on to responsible jobs, and a significant number of these young people have gone on to college.

One lad from Ghana went through all of NSC's programs and then received a scholarship to a prestigious preparatory school, at which he was elected president of his senior class. He is now in university.
Another boy from Yucatan went through all of NSC's programs, attended a local high school,went to the University of Texas at Austin on on a trumpet scholarship, graduated and is now band director at a local high school.
A girl from Mexico who went through all of NSC's programs is now a student at Texas Woman's University. She is now serving as a teacher's aide at a local elementary school.

Funding

NSC serves all races and faiths and is supported by all races and faiths. It is not a United Way agency. The largest percentage of NSC's financial support comes from grants from foundations, large corporations and government agencies. Significant financial contributions come also from women's clubs, sororities, churches, service clubs and local businesses. The other large segment of donations is from individuals in the community.

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