The Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers was founded in 1987 as a program of the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House by Joe Marshall, a middle school teacher and administrator, and Jack Jacqua, a middle school counselor. Both men were concerned about the number of African American youth who were dropping out of school and/or becoming involved in the drug trade. At first, the Club offered tutoring, basketball, and other positive recreational and educational activities. As the founders began to understand the prevalence and severity of the issues these youth were facing, they realized a deeper level of intervention was needed. A culture of violence was deeply ingrained in the youth's lives: in their homes, on the streets, in their neighborhoods, in their relationships with peers, in the movies they watched and the music they listened to.

1987

The mission of Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers is to keep young people alive and free, unharmed by violence and free from incarceration. To provide youth with opportunity and support to build positive lives for themselves, and move into contributing roles in society.