The Center for Children, located at 35 Halsey Street in Newark, is the core of PCCI’s community-based effort to improve the lives of Newark’s disadvantaged children.

The Center for Children provides a caring environment offering wide-ranging services for children, teenagers and families including:

• After-school care for children ages 5-12 Monday through Thursday including homework help, tutoring, music, arts, recreational activities, educational and enrichment activities and field trips. All children and youth participate in developing and implementing community-building activities and service.
• Computer-based educational programs based on LeapTrack technology shown to improve academic skills by 25% annually.
• Community service projects which include reading to younger children, feeding the homeless, neighborhood clean-ups, and collecting holiday gifts for neighborhood children, allowing older children an opportunity to give back to their community.
• The Teen Program, teaching leadership skills and providing recreation and field trips. This program serves 12 though 16-year-olds.
• Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
• Drug Education Prevention and Violence Reduction Program which reinforces self-esteem, teaches young people to make healthy decisions and builds conflict resolution skills.
• Six Week Summer Peace Camp, encompassing youth development activities, studio art, drama, creative writing and giving children the tools to resolve conflict creatively.
• After-school Arts and Music Program.
• Partnerships with local colleges and universities, including Rutgers, NJIT, Bloomfield College, and Montclair State University.