DETROIT — Since the opening of its Youth Recreation and Leadership Center in its Seven Mile complex, the Arab American and Chaldean Council (ACC) has seen a tremendous impact on the lives of the youth it serves. ACC’s recreational summer program provides a free 6-week summer basketball camp at its Youth Center in Detroit. The program is intended to attract and involve youth through recreational activities. The goal is to assist in guiding youth ages 9 – 17 through the everyday challenges they may face and promote healthy life choices. The summer program provides at risk youth a safe place to be during their summer vacation time.

Community members and previous program participants (such as current University of Michigan stand-out Deon Harris) serve as volunteers, coaches and mentors to the participating youth and assist in the daily operation of the camps. Mentors help provide feedback and guidance to assist in improving youth sense of self-image. Staff and volunteers also assist the youth with their summer school work as well as encourage their interests in computers, arts and more.

Daily recreation is made available to all community youth. The sessions are gender and age appropriate, all youth are allowed to participate regardless of their skill level. In addition to the general camp, advanced groups of youth are selected to be a part of ACC’s Traveling Basketball Team, which participates in state wide competitions. These competitions provide youth with the opportunity to travel outside the city and get exposure to new experiences.

As a result of these camps, in combination with ACC’s after-school youth program, many of ACC’s participants continue their athletic careers in college. For the past two years the winner of Michigan’s Mr. Basketball has been a participant of ACC’s Youth Center. Derrick Nix, who currently plays for Michigan State University, and Keith Appling, who will be joining Nix in the fall at MSU, both learned their basketball skills at a young age through ACC’s youth center. Nix and Appling are only two out of many success stories from ACC’s youth center both athletically and academically.