Annual Report 2024-25

Dear Friends,

This year, I’ve been thinking about what it means to truly belong—not just to show up, but to feel seen, valued, and essential to something larger than ourselves. What are the conditions that must be true about the environment we’re in and the people we are around? As I have mused about my own life, belonging has felt different with each chapter. Yet, the consistent thread over the years has been a stable and strong sense of community, friends, and mentors.

We are living in a world where less than half of young Americans feel they have community anywhere and time spent in-person with friends has plummeted by 70% over two decades. Today’s youth face mounting pressures, often without the tools or space to thrive. We worked hard at City Kids this year to be the antidote – to create the container that allows a child to blossom and the conditions where belonging becomes the foundation for everything else. In 2025, City Kids offered 182 days of programs. We asked participants to trade their screens for community and connection, spend time outside, test their limits, and try new things. The result – applications doubled, trip engagement tripled, and 92% of participants grew in one or more of the critical social-emotional skills that help all of us thrive.

In the pages that follow, you’ll read about the adventures we took, meet the sixth graders who took their first nervous steps as Rangers, the senior who returned as Assistant Camp Director, and the Behavior Support Specialist—herself an alum—who helped create the emotional safety that allows discovery.

Together, these stories remind us that belonging isn’t built by programs alone—it’s created in every shared laugh on and off the trail, every moment of trust between mentor and youth, and every space where a young person feels both safe and seen. City Kids continues to be that space—a community where each child’s voice, potential, and presence matter.

Thank you for believing in this work. Your support helps us close the belonging gap one young person, one experience, one genuine connection at a time.

With gratitude,

Sarah Cryder
Executive Director