The Salvation Army After-School Programs

The Salvation Army After-School Programs offer homework assistance, tutoring, academic support, and mentorship along with team-building activities and cooperative learning experiences. Children in these programs take part in art, music, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), martial arts, sports, culinary arts, dancing, drawing, writing, and acting. Some programs include youth sports leagues for basketball and futsal, choir, band, an after-school music program with instrument training, and other enrichment activities.

• Price: The Salvation Army’s no-fee and low-cost after-school programs are mentioned.

The Salvation Army has been pursuing its mission since 1865. Its mission statement describes it as an international movement and an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church, with a message based on the Bible and a ministry motivated by the love of God, aiming to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination. The Salvation Army states it serves all without unlawful discrimination or harassment based on age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, disability, citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other characteristic in accordance with its capacity to help. General Lyndon Buckingham and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham are based at The Salvation Army International Headquarters, and Commissioners Merle and Dawn Heatwole serve as the National Commander and National Secretary for Program for The Salvation Army in the U.S.

In different communities, The Salvation Army After-School Programs include a computer lab that provides academic support, homework help, and enrichment opportunities to kids who otherwise have no access to computers, youth sports leagues for basketball and futsal described as an action-packed game where fun meets growth, and no-cost or low-cost music and art education. One youth center created an after-school music program when area schools could no longer afford arts programming. One local program is described as a safe haven for kids in a neighborhood where children are faced with drugs, gangs, and sex work. The Salvation Army Metropolitan Division in Chicago runs the “Fatherhood in Action” program, which provides job training and placement assistance to young fathers and was extended to the Cook County Jail.

A parent from the Eastside After-School Program in St. Paul, Minnesota, reports that the program includes tutoring and help with homework in reading, math, and science, and says that an older child who was behind in math and some reading improved in those areas. The same parent notes that there is always a new dance, a new friend, a new song learned, or a different skill mastered that the child did not know before, and describes the program as something else for the children to do.

Last updated April 18, 2026.