A Safe Haven for Youth and Their Data
As the saying goes, "It takes a village." For The Youth Center in Los Alamitos, California, this "village" includes 3 full-time employees, 45 part-time employees and more than 500 volunteers. They all work together as a team to transform children's lives one family at a time through collaborative social, educational, and recreational programs.
For The Youth Center, the village extends beyond its employees and volunteers. A network of collaborators includes school districts, police and sheriff's departments, medical centers, city officials, music studios, and more. All of them offer their support and services in various ways.
Year-Round Activities
Engaging, entertaining, educating and exercising are just what The Youth Center does — year round. In fact, since the nonprofit opened its doors in 1952, The Youth Center has served more than 100,000 local Los Alamitos families. Beyond camp, it offers numerous programs such as after-school care, music lessons, and leadership academies. A powerful program called Every 15 Minutes highlights the dangers of drunk driving.
In the summer, The Youth Center offers action-packed camps for many families that would otherwise struggle to find a fun, safe environment for their kids to enjoy. The days are filled with puppy parties, karaoke, talent shows, contests, and field trips, keeping kids on the go. Camp tuition is affordable, and scholarships are available.
A Costly Virus
At the same time, the nonprofit has no IT professionals on its staff, and therefore relies on qualified volunteers to protect its networks and safeguard sensitive information. After experiencing the results of a bad virus attack a few years ago, The Youth Center knew it needed help. As a small nonprofit, it was hard to spare the time and financial resources that went into dealing with the virus.
Through TechSoup, The Youth Center received a donation of Norton Small Business from Symantec. Norton gives the organization confidence that its systems are safe and its rosters, contact information, and photos protected against viruses, spyware, malware, and other online threats.
Each year, Symantec provides cybersecurity solutions to more than 25,000 organizations across 55 countries worldwide. Its donation to The Youth Center enables the small nonprofit to focus its time and financial resources on fulfilling its mission: to transform children's lives one family at a time.
