AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM
Students in grades K-8 receive homework help from trained tutors, are served a nutritious meal, participate in Bible studies and enjoy recreational activities. Tiger Pause maintains five after-school sites in Beaver Falls, serving approximately 150 students each day. Two centers operate four days a week and the other three run three days a week from 3:30-6 p.m. 

Tiger Pause has seen growth in attendance, academic performance and positive school behavior in the last three years.

MENTORING
This new program matches youth with adults who are active in civic and religious communities in an effort to cultivate meaningful relationships. Students who have consistent access to a mentor for at least one year are 46 percent less likely to use drugs, 52 percent less likely to skip school and are better able to relate to their family and peers.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING
Additional funding has enabled economically disadvantaged youth to study under experienced contractors who teach carpentry, plumbing, electrical wiring and other basic home maintenance skills. 

In the past three years, Tiger Pause participants have led or played a major role in local building projects. Students have constructed five new homes and were instrumental in turning an older house into a coffee shop that serves the downtown community. Youth also completed more than 300 feet of commercial concrete sidewalks for businesses and institutions in the area and a nine-hole miniature golf course.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Tiger Pause owns and operates two small businesses in downtown Beaver Falls. 

The Beez Café is currently relocating an remodeling and will be opening again soon. It will offer fresh coffee and a cozy atmosphere for church groups, book clubs, Bible studies and art classes to meet. 

The Tiger Pause Furniture Bank, located at 1611 Seventh Ave., provides household goods and appliances to low-income families. Tiger Pause staff teach student workers basic business skills — inventory management, record keeping and customer service. These workers also arrange pick-up of donated items and learn how to safely move and deliver furniture.

As an added benefit to the community, the furniture bank offers Work 4 Stuff, a program that allows individuals in need of household goods to work for donated items and maintain personal dignity.

By supplying low-income youth and families with practical skills, education and a support system, they are able to understand and end the cycle of poverty.

SUMMER CAMP
During this six-week camp, students in grades K-9 learn how to swim, create arts and crafts projects, perform community service activities, participate in Bible studies and take part in athletics. The program runs five days per week in June and July. Each day, children receive a nutritious lunch.

Tiger Pause’s uniqueness and Christ-centered philosophy really shine during summer camp. Ethnic and economic barriers are broken, and local Christians come together despite denominational and theological differences. During the summer of 2008, 116 youth worked together to move 95 tons of gravel with buckets and shovels and improve blighted properties in the community.

BOYS & GIRLS GROUP
Tiger Pause aims to equip young men and women with life skills such as work ethic, conflict resolution, discernment, self-respect, honesty, authenticity and integrity.

We have seen young men and women enrolled in the program live out the lessons they have learned. Girls involved in the program regularly visit the elderly, volunteer at a local soup kitchen and plant flowers at Carnegie Library each spring. Nearly 90 percent of the young women who participate in girls group for four consecutive years go on to attend four-year colleges. 

There has been a dramatic shift in the behavior of boys enrolled in Tiger Pause programming. Negative school behavior has dramatically decreased among students who attend weekly Boys Group meetings.

SPORTS OUTREACH
Through Tiger Pause’s year-round basketball leagues, boys in grades 9-12 learn to work together on and off the court, listen to Bible lessons before each game and experience the rewards of discipline and achievement.

The organization also hosts pre-game dinners for the Beaver Falls High School Football Team. After the meal, Christian men give a Gospel message to approximately 70 athletes as well as their trainers and coaches.