Rally Club Seattle

Rally Club Seattle is a group mentorship program for underserved teens and tweens in Seattle. Programming began in 2022, as a grassroots response to not only a lack of programming specifically for middle schoolers, but also a need for connection and community post-pandemic. Rally Club Seattle believes in the power of long-term meaningful connections and community to empower youth.

Currently, Rally Club Seattle supports 30 caring volunteer mentors who build community and connection weekly with more than 50 youth at 4 separate locations, with cohorts onsite at Seattle public school locations (Eckstein, Greenlake, Roosevelt) as well as affordable housing communities. Our vision is that youth will have a community of support to surround them through middle school and beyond.

Rally Club Seattle creates spaces where young people that need it most can build confidence, develop critical life skills, and foster meaningful connections with positive role models and their peers. A “club” that they belong to, just to be themselves!

Programming consists of the formation of small cohort communities of youth and caring volunteer adult mentors meeting weekly after-school or during lunchtime. Mentors and youth interact through fun, youth-driven activities, shared meals, as well as special events and guests. Each unique community becomes a fun, welcoming, and inclusive environment where time spent socializing, sharing meals, and participating in youth-driven activities, encourages connection and natural social-emotional learning.

Volunteer mentors are critical to our mission. Rally Club Seattle recruits, trains, and supports volunteer mentors with all different backgrounds, ages, and interests. Since its formation in 2022, mentors have donated more than 2000 hours of time directly engaging with children.

At a time when 40% of teens report feeling persistently sad and hopeless (CDC, 2024), society is increasingly disconnected, and when youth affected by poverty are even more likely to be isolated-- connection and community is needed more than ever. Increasing connectedness associates with improvements in academics, school attendance, mental health, confidence, and can also have a buffering effect against stress and trauma. Having more people in your life is empowering!