February 6, 2024 • 56 mins
From the vibrant courts of Earlham College volleyball to the life-changing halls of the Boys and Girls Club of Wayne County, Alicia Painter's journey is nothing short of remarkable. As CEO, Alicia takes us through her evolution from athlete to altruistic leader, and the serendipitous influence of the Bonner Scholar program on her career path. Her narrative is a celebration of volunteerism and the profound impact that early work experiences, like her first gig at McDonald's, had in shaping her work ethic and leadership style. With authenticity and passion, Alicia shares how her initial aspirations to educate were beautifully redirected into spearheading a non-profit that's dear to countless hearts.
Our conversation wades through the rich legacy left by Bruce, the club's long-standing champion, while unraveling the intricacies behind selecting a new leader to carry the torch of this cornerstone community organization. Alicia opens up about the joy of witnessing her own children find their place and purpose within the club's supportive embrace. She underscores the importance of instilling values of generosity and community connectivity, painting a vivid picture of how the Boys and Girls Club acts as a nurturing ground for youth to flourish into empowered, giving citizens.
Stepping into the club's vibrant ecosystem, we explore the diverse array of programs dedicated to academic elevation, healthy living, and character fortification. The episode paints a portrait of a thriving organization that not only champions its existing initiatives but also enthusiastically embraces service expansion to meet the shifting needs of today's youth. Listen in as Alicia details the club's strategic growth and relentless pursuit of nurturing the next generation, touching upon enhanced workforce readiness, social-emotional learning, and the potential for future counseling services—an inspiring mosaic of opportunity and hope for the children of Wayne County.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Michael Allen from Manpower.
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Let us help contact Manpowertoday.
Hello and welcome to the Hubpowered by Manpower of Richmond.
I am your host, michael Allen,and here on the Hub we interview
local business leaders,community partners and various
awesome individuals and specialguests, and our mission here is
(00:47):
to share and spotlight uniqueand untold stories of companies,
organizations and people whoare making a difference in our
community.
So today's guest on the Hub isAlicia Painter, the chief
executive officer of the Boysand Girls Club of Wayne County,
and she's definitely an awesomeperson and she's leading an
(01:09):
awesome organization.
So welcome to the Hub.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Oh, thank you so much .
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Thank you for joining us and we've known each other
for several years now with ourconnection with the club and as
a board member and you and yourvarious roles in the club, and I
gotta tell you I've reallyenjoyed working with you more
since you become the chiefexecutive officer and I'm so
happy that you agreed to join us.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Oh, thank you so much .
It's a pleasure working withyou.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
So I'm really anxious to adjourn to chronicle your
journey with the Boys and GirlsClubs.
But before we get into that,why don't you just share with us
a little bit about yourself,like where you grew up?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, so I grew up in Westchester, Ohio, so I went to
Lakota School District and thenmy sophomore year of high
school I moved out tomorrow,Ohio, which is a very small area
, graduated from Little MiamiHigh School and I knew that I
wanted to play volleyball incollege.
So I was fortunate enough tocome to Erlum College to play
(02:20):
volleyball, which was veryexciting and that really created
the most important chapter ofmy life, which is finding
Richmond and really putting ourroots into this community.
So, with going to Erlum andplaying volleyball at Erlum, I
was also a Bonner scholar, whichis what introduced me to the
(02:40):
Boys and Girls Club.
I also met my husband myfreshman year of college, his
sophomore year, and we've beentogether ever since.
We started our family here andwe have three kids who are
everyday Boys and Girls Clubmembers.
We have Grayson, who's 10, andEleanor and Harper, who are
twins who are eight years old.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So how did it come about that Erlum ended up being
where you chose to come?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, so I was.
The liberal arts collegeexperience was really exciting
to me.
I also really fell in love withthis community from you know
the visits.
I was looking at a lot ofdifferent colleges, but between
what education I would be ableto get as well as playing
volleyball.
That's really what helped mechoose Erlum.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
So just explain for us just a little bit what does
it mean to be a Bonner scholar?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah.
So a Bonner scholar, you havethe ability you receive
financial funding to be able tovolunteer in inside of the
community, and so my freshmanyear I actually had, you know,
the ability to be a work studystudent.
So I was on campus, but as aBonner scholar they really want
to push you out into thecommunity and focus on
(03:58):
volunteering.
So that just really opened thedoor to experiencing what
Richmond had to offer, and I'mso fortunate for that.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
So what was your major area study?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, so I graduated.
My major was psychology andthen a minor in education.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
All right.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So did you think that you would eventually end up
working in an organization likethe Boys and Girls Club?
Was that kind of on your radar?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
It wasn't, it wasn't at all.
So I always knew I wanted to dosomething with kids.
That's my passion.
I love teaching, those lightbulb moments that happen.
So I just always assumed Iwould be a teacher, and I am so
lucky that I walked into theBoys and Girls Club doors,
(04:49):
because I didn't have a Boys andGirls Club where I grew up.
And so just seeing all of thesekids, hundreds of kids, after
school and being able to decidehow you want to work with them,
you know, do you want to andthat's what I did Coach
volleyball with them down in thegym, or do soccer or cooking
class in the kitchen, that justreally opened my eyes to okay,
(05:14):
this could be, this could be ourcareer path.
And so and I think that'swhat's really important about
volunteering is it just exposesyou to so many different
opportunities that you might nothave otherwise, and so I'm
really, I'm really fortunate forhow it played out.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Well, I want to go through how your you know your
career went through with theBoys and Girls Club, but we have
this tradition that I do onthis podcast is where we asked
the person about their first job.
Okay so what was your very?
First job that you can remember.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
I remember it very clearly, it was working at
McDonald's, yeah.
So as soon as I turned 14,there was no option.
It was you go and get a job,because that's what you do.
And so I started at McDonald's,working mostly in the
drive-through or the frontcounter, and I loved it.
I loved it and I loved itbecause it really you know,
(06:09):
sports teaches you so much aboutdiscipline and work ethic, but
working fast food does the exactsame thing.
Right, those are very hard,challenging jobs and you're on
your feet, and what I learnedfrom that experience was either
be busy, look busy or you'regoing home, and I think that's
so important to learn at a youngage.
(06:30):
So, yeah, it was one of myfavorite jobs working there.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Well, I had a similar experience.
You know doing fast food.
You know like you, andsometimes we hear a little bit
of negativity about working atnot specifically McDonald's but
fast food or whatever, but Ithink that's a wonderful
training ground for people toexperience learning on the job
(06:58):
and being introduced into theworking world.
Yeah, and I think you couldprobably go through a lot of
people who have had successful,who have had success in their
life, in their career, likeyourself, and a lot of them did
things like work at McDonald's.
Yeah so so I think we need to,you know, really encourage that
(07:20):
with our youth to step out andhave employment experiences like
that, yeah, because I thinkthey're very invaluable.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, they are, and it just it reminds you to have
so much respect.
I mean, those jobs they're hardand we need them and so that
exposure and we, you know, we'rereally focused on workforce
readiness, life and workforcereadiness at the Boys and Girls
Club and that's a path that Itruly, I personally believe
every young person should havean experience in the fast food
(07:53):
world.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
So with the Boys and Girls Club?
Yeah, your first experience wasa volunteer, so you weren't
getting paid, right, you'revolunteering, so what was your?
What did you just start outdoing?
Was it volleyball?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, yeah, so Ryan Wheeler he is actually.
He worked for our organizationin Wayne County and he's
actually now a CEO down inSeymour, indiana, so he
encouraged me to come in and dovolleyball.
And then, of course, that's apassion that I have, and so how
neat is that when you can alignyour passion of working with
(08:28):
kids and a passion for a sportthat you have.
So then that quickly becameinto okay.
Now our next season is soccer.
What can you do for a soccer?
Not as much, but I'll try.
And then the cooking class andit just yeah, it just went from
there.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
So at one, at one point, you decided you were
going to apply for a position.
Yeah, so tell us a little bitabout what that was.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, so I also.
One summer, when I was astudent at Erlum, I volunteered
for the summer as a Bonnerscholar down at our camp guy.
So we have a 168 acre camp downin Connorsville and that really
solidified that.
The Boys and Girls Club iswhere my heart is, and being
(09:13):
able to take, you know, abusload of kids down there who
have never seen a river beforethey've net, they don't even
know what a creek walk is, eventhough it's kind of
self-explanatory, but being ableto do that for an entire summer
, it was just incredible.
So the only opening that wasavailable at the club when I
graduated from Erlum in 2011 wasto be the camp director.
(09:36):
So it was an hourly positionand it it was one of those
moments of okay, you justgraduated from college, as this
is this, your next step, and I'mso grateful that it was my next
step.
So I ended up getting thatposition, and it was just for
the summer.
We didn't know what wouldhappen after that.
So I had an incrediblesupervisor, larry Stone at the
(09:59):
time, who just taught me so much, and so, yeah, so that that was
my first paid position at theclub.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
So did you transition from that job, which was just
for the summer, to anotherposition within the club?
I mean, did you ever workanywhere else in between?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
No, no, this has been my only adult career path,
which I'm so fortunate to beable to say that.
So after camp, luckily enough,a program director position
became available at our Jeffersunit on the south side of
Richmond.
So I started in that and thenworked my way up.
(10:37):
They finally gave me the titleunit director, so that was
exciting.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And that was at Jeffers yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yeah, that was at Jeffers and it was just so
rewarding.
It was so rewarding.
You know every, every positionor promotion that you have when
you're working with kids.
You kind of move up and you'renot working as directly with
kids, but I really found thisnew passion of working with our
adults at the club and beingable to, you know, provide more
(11:04):
training and professionaldevelopment opportunities for
our staff to be able to impactour youth on an even greater
scale.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
So so did.
You were a unit director for awhile.
Yeah, how long were you in that?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
role I would.
I was a unit director and thenalso senior unit director for
probably six years.
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And then I think then it transitioned to Bruce Daggy
saying he was going to retire.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And there was a search committee put together
right, yeah.
And you applied for theposition and was.
Was that kind of nerve wrackingto apply for that?
And, like you know, becauseyou've been there for all this
time and now you're going forthe top position and then if you
(11:55):
didn't get it, I would thinkthat would be a little bit of a
oh, what do I do?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
now, yeah right, it was, it was.
And you know Bruce, bruce waswith our, our organization, for
28 years and Bruce did so muchfor our organization to take us,
you know, from serving kids atone location to serving youth at
five different locations acrossthe county.
And so those were and I heardit all the time really big shoes
(12:21):
to fill, and so it was.
But I knew that I had enoughtrust and faith in the selection
and the search process that ifI didn't get it, that's okay.
I mean, that means somebodyelse was more qualified and I
would happily work along withthem to do what our youth need
us to do.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
So well everything any contact I've had with you
through the years.
Your statement there, I thinkthat's a really genuine
statement that speaks to yourcharacter, I think you would
have done that, but I'm happy,you know, for you getting the
position.
I think you're doing awonderful job here, heading into
(13:03):
, like your second year orfinishing two years in the role.
And so how was it?
You mentioned a little bitabout it, but it had to be a
little daunting.
You have some, a person thatwas in the position for so long,
and was it?
Was there any kind of?
(13:23):
Did it feel kind of bumpy earlyon, or did it it just kind of
work out, I mean?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
it really it flowed.
Our, our organization is sostrong and it starts with a
strong board of directors and weare so fortunate and you're
you're an incredible member ofthat team to have a 40 person
board of directors and thatreally creates our foundation
and provides organizationalstrength.
(13:48):
We also have a board oftrustees who help oversee our
endowment, and that's justincredible, incredible
individuals to tap into for whatwe need.
And then our team at the club.
You know we transitioned withBruce's retirement from an
executive director to going intoa CEO, a CFO and a COO.
(14:10):
So having Jennifer Feister asour CFO, having Sydney Lieberman
as our COO, I mean we we'resuch a strong team and it's it's
so nice to know when to leaninto each other to provide that
support that we might not be theexpert in, but we know who the
expert is and we can, you know,get their advice on that.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah Well, it definitely seems to work well
with an organization, at leastfrom my perspective and what I
see, and it's just a differentchapter for the club.
I mean, it was time for Bruceto step aside when he wanted to
and and now you're just creatinga whole new chapter for the
(14:53):
club and and doing a terrificjob.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Thank you?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
How is it having your kids at the club?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Because I mean there's good days and bad days.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
I mean, are they there, Like?
Have they been there like allthe time since they were old
enough to be there?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Their best birthday present when they turned six
years old was their Boys andGirls Club card.
Like they could not wait to beBoys and Girls Club members.
It's, it's amazing.
It is so rewarding to have yourown kids and their highlight
reel every day is at the club.
I got to do healthy habits andwe made this snack at the club.
(15:33):
I got to have one-on-one helpwith one of our tutors, allison,
at the Jeffers unit.
Like it is so amazing to hearfirsthand from your own kids how
beneficial it is to be a Boysand Girls Club member.
So I wouldn't change it for theworld.
I love that my office is.
Just happens to be I didn'tpull any strings to make this
(15:54):
happen Just happens to be thesame clubs that they go to, and
it's just, it is incredible, itis.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
So it's never like they don't want to go.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
No no, no, they are, they are dying to go.
And and you know the club,we're open every day after
school, but we're also open onspring break and fall break and
holiday break, so, and in thesummer and so it's always, you
know, we'll we'll have familymembers.
We don't have family that liveshere in Richmond's.
We'll have family who say, well, I'm going to come up on Friday
(16:25):
to pick them up and it's like,well, you better not come until
five o'clock because that'stheir club time.
So it uh, yeah, every day theylove coming to the salsa.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
What a interesting story it would be if one of your
kids pursues a career in theboys and girls.
And to think, I mean, thatwould be just an incredible
story, that well, ever since Iwas old enough to go to the club
, it's been in my life.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
That way.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
I'm sure that's I don't know if you've ever
thought about that, but thatwould be pretty amazing.
Yeah, and I have thought aboutthat only because, if you ask
any of them right now, theyeither want to work in the games
room when they graduate or theyone of them wants to be our
next CEO.
So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
That's just wonderful and you're just bringing in
another generation ofindividuals that are learning to
care for the needs of otherpeople.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, yeah, and I think that's.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
That's a great experience for them.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Thank you for saying that, and and that's what all of
our boys and girls clubs, boysand girls club members we try to
teach them Like if you haveenough to give, then give it.
And that might be your time,that might be.
You have five sheets of paperand one kid doesn't have any, so
you're sharing with them.
But we really try to instill inour boys and girls club members
(17:47):
the the need to give to othersor the need to give back to our
community, because our communityhere in Wayne County gives so
much to us at the boys and girlsclub.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yes, so the we'll get into a little bit more of the
nitty gritty about the club.
So type this up here so Iremember it well.
So our mission is to inspireand and enable all young people,
especially those who need usthe most to realize their full
potential as productive,responsible and caring citizens.
(18:21):
So when we look at like lastyear 2023, you've got to feel
pretty good about the directionthe club is headed.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Absolutely, absolutely, and our, our
favorite words and that entiremission statement are those who
need us the most.
That's what we're here for andand I think sometimes when we
hear those words, we think aboutsocioeconomic status, we think
about those, you know, who justfinancially need some more
support.
But it doesn't stop there.
(18:51):
Those who need us the mostcould be because both their
adults work full-time jobs andthey don't get off until five,
30 or six o'clock at night andthe club's open until 630.
So those who need us the most.
When we have our monthly meet,leadership meetings or operation
meetings every month, we alwaysthink back to are we serving
those who need us the most?
(19:11):
And whatever we're we're tryingto do next, is it serving those
who need us the most?
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I wrote down a couple of things here.
We we have 1,961 club membersI'm sure that number always is
fluctuating and then there wasan additional almost 3,000 that
were reached through communityoutreach.
Yes, say it.
(19:41):
So what is that I mean?
Speaker 2 (19:42):
what does?
Speaker 1 (19:42):
that look like.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, so about 2,000 of that number are serving youth
during the school day.
So we actually have trainedstaff who go in and run
prevention programming in allfive of our county school
districts.
We also have teachers who havebeen trained on our programming
to also facilitate thatcurriculum as well, and we're
(20:06):
really proud of that.
We're really proud of, you know, how many youth were able to
serve for that.
But then that's also, you know,we have monthly teen, we have
monthly family nights wherefamilies will come in, and so
all those numbers add up.
We also do Easter egg hunt andjust different community events.
So that's where that numbercomes from.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Then I would think that hopefully by exposing youth
through some special events,whatever, then the hope would be
that they might become clubmembers.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Absolutely yeah, that really helps.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
It's kind of a recruitment tool.
Yeah it is Exposing them tothat.
Yeah, right now we're averagingabout 524, 25 or so youth a day
.
Yeah, right, yeah.
And our summer attendance is alittle over 200.
And I think this number isgreat.
We have over 400 teen members.
(20:58):
Yeah, our average there isaround 50.
I think we'd like to see thathigher.
We would.
What are your thoughts aboutthose numbers and where they're
headed and where the club wouldlike to see it go?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, yeah.
So we always want to be able toserve more youth.
We want to make sure that we'reknocking down every barrier
that keeps a child fromattending one of our boys and
girls clubs or a teen fromattending.
So we're very focused on that.
But we're also proud I mean tobe able to serve.
You know we shared at our mostrecent annual dinner, 27% of
(21:36):
Richmond community schoolstudents are boys and girls club
members.
That's a number to be proud of.
One in every four of our CSstudents are coming to the club.
So we want we want to increasehow many kids we're serving, but
we also want to focus on ourquality too.
So it's that you know thestruggle we all have with
balancing quantity and quality.
(21:57):
So we're really proud of ouroperations team.
So we have 14 members of our onour operations team who ever
see our clubs are every dayoperations with our youth, and
so every Friday they're actuallyin one of our schools to help
recruit and retain our members.
So hey, I haven't seen you in acouple of days.
You know you should come to theclub.
This Friday we're having aValentine's Day dance, and so we
(22:21):
want to grow that number whilealso making sure that we're
growing our quality as well.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
You can tell me what you think about this, but I
think you know we're.
It's about bringing up the nextgeneration within our community
, helping them develop.
It's also, I think, preservinghope for our community,
especially those who can, whowill continue to be part of our
community, because we'll needthem.
(22:49):
You know the carry to torch,torch forward for us.
That's part of, I think, whatthe club is doing is is, you
know, making those, thoseinvestments for the future
generation that will be aroundhere or elsewhere, but also here
.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yeah, and what a responsibility to have that's.
That's a major responsibility,but also how fortunate are we
that we get to have a hand inthat?
And so I mentioned earlierabout life and workforce
readiness.
It is our responsibility toexpose our youth and our
teenagers to different careerpaths that they might not have
(23:28):
thought of.
So if you walked into our clubs, you know, a year ago, you
would ask the kids hey, you know, what do you want to be when
you grow up?
And you would get the typicalpolice officer, teacher, doctor.
You know that's what you wouldget.
But especially through our winprogram or workforce workforce
initiative network that you'vehelped with, we've been able to
(23:49):
take our teenagers to manpower.
We've been able to take them toa house, take them to read
health and see all the differentcareer paths that happen there,
and so we also start thatcareer exploration as early as
six years old by having JeffLoge, a veterinarian, come in
and talk about what a day lookslike in his role, in his
(24:10):
position, and so I think that'sthat's really important too.
Is that talking about hope, isthat exposure to all the
different possibilities that areout there?
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Right, the.
We have programs and impactsand the club has three priority
areas academic success, healthylifestyles, good character,
citizenship.
There's so much going on inthose areas.
Can you tell us a little aboutthese areas and how we're
(24:41):
helping our youth achievepositive outcomes in these areas
?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, so academic success every day.
When youth walk into our clubs,we actually have what we call
open programming, so kids get topick and choose what they want
to do.
We don't force them to.
You have to go to the gym now.
You have to go to the classroom.
Every one of our units has aclassroom.
So if you have homework, youcan get help from one of our our
(25:05):
trained staff members tocomplete your homework.
But you also have what we callpower hour pages, and so you
earn points inside of ourclassroom for doing power hour
pages, which is work related towhat grade you're in.
You also get points forcompleting your homework.
And so at the end of each month,because we have to be fun, you
know we safety's first, but funfollows a very close second, and
(25:30):
so when you get these points,at the end of every month we
have what we call a power hourstore, so our kids get a shop
with all the points that theyearned from getting their
homework done or doing powerhour pages.
We also have one on onetutoring, and so we have
licensed teachers who come inwho are boys and girls club
staff members and they work oneon one with our kids who need
(25:51):
that extra help.
So we're very proud.
We also have an Indiana kidsprogram where kids focus on
career exploration, theirhomework completion, but also
volunteer service hours.
So we're tracking that everyyouth a part of our Indiana kids
program does 10 hours ofvolunteer work, and that could
be inside of our clubs, thatcould be a field trip out in the
(26:12):
community.
A lot of the times it happensto be picking up trash, which is
a good thing to teach our kidshow to do.
And so, yeah, academic successis very important to us and just
partnering with our schools aswell.
We are a 21st century learningsite, so we do.
We're able to get feedback fromour teachers of what youth who
(26:34):
are club members who could needsome use some extra help at the
club.
Healthy lifestyles is veryimportant.
We want our kids to participatein our club fit programming.
So that's encouraging,encouraging them to be active
for at least 45 minutes each day.
So we strongly encourage that.
But also with healthylifestyles, is that prevention
(26:54):
programming, the healthy habitshabits, that cooking class
program, that's that they love,that there's like a waitlist for
that program.
So we're really proud of whatwe do with healthy lifestyles.
And then my personal favoriteis a good character and
citizenship.
So that's teaching our membersto be those productive,
responsible, caring members ofsociety.
(27:16):
And so you see that with ourjunior helpers program, where
our 10 to 13 year old memberswill have to do so many hours of
service inside of our clubs andthey have time sheets and they
have a weekly meeting, they getinterviewed to be a junior
helper, so it's preparing themfor their next step in life.
But you also see that withtorch club and Keystone, which
(27:38):
are leadership programs for our10 and older members, so they're
more active inside thecommunity and volunteer at
different events.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
So I've had a pretty decent interaction with the
youth in those programs and youcan tell the impact you've made
with them just in the way theyinteract with you and the way
they carry themselves.
So it's definitely a programthat's reaping benefits.
I'm going to use our annualreport here just to go over a
(28:09):
few things.
You know we had 219 clubmembers participate in the 21st
century.
This number was me waited 4,658, one on one tutoring sessions.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, that's incredible and those are one on
one you and a licensed teachergoing through what you need and
the help that you need.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
I mean that's a lot of hours.
I know that's a lot of sessions.
I should say yeah they probablycould be less or more than an
hour, but I would.
I mean, that's just got to beinvaluable, those one on one
time.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
And with that, too, is mentoring.
Yeah, you're focused on that.
You know that math that youneed help on, but it's also you
have a caring adult who is thereto support you.
So a lot of the times, you'refocused on your academics, but
you're also focused on life, andso that supportive relationship
is very important kind ofcherry picking here a little bit
(29:10):
, but there we had almost 1400students who participated in too
good for drugs program.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Yep, and I think that's so important.
I mean it's a great number,first of all, but we continue to
have challenges in not aloneour community but different
communities, with drug abuse andanything that we can do to
catch our kids early, hopefullywe'll get them out of the, I
(29:39):
guess, the lure that happenswith in that area.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Yeah, absolutely, and that program focuses a lot on
self esteem and confidence.
And how do you navigate,especially as you get older?
How to say no?
You know, like yeah, you justyou know, as parents, we hope
that we teach you.
Well, you just say no, well,there's so much more to that.
Absolutely and how do younavigate those conversations?
Speaker 1 (30:04):
In the good character and citizenship your favorite.
Yeah, 98% of our our teens areon track to graduate high school
.
Pretty good.
Yeah 80% are on track to pursuefurther education and 65%
volunteer in the community.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Those are some numbers to be super proud of.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Thank you.
We have a great team.
It can't none of this impact aspossible without so many
individuals making it happenfacilities.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
We have a lot of facilities.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
And I don't know if everyone?
Speaker 1 (30:42):
I'm sure they do.
But you know, let me just namethem.
We have the Jeffers unit onSouth Elstreet, we have the
McDaniel unit on West Main, wehave first bank unit North 12th
and then the clubs, teen centersis on West Main and then we
have the Hagerstown unit whichis on North Sycamore in
Hagerstown.
(31:03):
We have the Wayne Bank unitwhich is on Queen Street in
Pershing, and you mentionedearlier one of your early
favorites is this camp guy inConnorsville and then excuse me
my voice today we have thelongest named facility, which is
(31:24):
the West End Bank CharitableFoundation Professional
Development and Training Center,and that is also at the Wayne
the West Main Street location.
So to our followers, I thinkthat would sound like a lot for
a community our size.
How are they different?
Is there any differences?
(31:45):
How are they unique?
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, every one?
A great question.
Every unit is so different andit's so different because of the
staff who are running andfacilitating the program.
So, unit director, who'soverseeing the club, but also
the kids who come there.
And so you know, talking aboutour Richmond clubs, what I love
about our Richmond clubs is thatall of them, you know, we have
(32:10):
North, south and West Side ofRichmond, so we're hitting youth
in those neighborhoods, whichis so important in regards to
accessibility.
But they're all across thestreet or right next to our low
income housing, and so we have agreat partnership with the
Richmond Housing Authority towhere every youth who lives in
one of those low income housingunits gets a free Boys and Girls
(32:33):
Club membership, paid for bythe Housing Authority, and so
that's incredible.
And so when you go into theclubs the kids, they take so
much ownership, one of thethings we always say.
So we have weekly gym meetingswhere all of our kids come
together and we talk about thethree Rs, the expectations of
the club, respect the club,respect the staff, we respect
(32:55):
each other.
But then we always say and whoowns this club?
And we'll go, we'll go to Garyon this club.
The kids will be like no, doesMiss Sydney on this club?
No, who owns this club?
And they go, we do, and sothat's so important to them to
know that this is your club, andthen you can tell them, you
know, one day your kids will beable to and they're all like, ew
(33:16):
, we're not having kids, butyou're like.
No, like, it's for the nextgeneration as much as it's for
you, and so we love that ouryouth were able to serve youth
in those neighborhoods.
Being able to serve youth outin Cambridge City, pershing,
that has been an incredibleexperience to offer boys and
(33:36):
girls club after schoolopportunity for them, our youth
that go to Hagerstown.
You know that club is about 100, 110 kids a day.
I mean we're kind of busting atthe seams out there, which is
exciting.
So we love that our adults haveoptions.
It's hopefully you know, havingthose different units makes
transportation a little biteasier.
(33:56):
Another thing for Richmondclubs if you don't have
transportation home, we're gonnaprovide it for you.
You know we really want toknock down all of those barriers
and so, yes, it is a lot ofupkeep to have all of those
facilities, but it's also sorewarding to be able to serve
our youth in the neighborhoodsthat they live in.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Well, I just think it's amazing how things have
come together over these fewyears to have, you know, the
first bank unit at the Townsendsite yeah, because I just think
that's a wonderful location forour youth.
Yeah, so many can connect to asite.
Yeah, and then the one on theWest Side is amazing too.
(34:38):
I mean these things?
They just all little by littleunfolded and came out and I
don't think you couldn't be anyhappy with the way the, at least
within Richmond, the way thecity is covered at this point.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah, I agree completely.
And it's not possible withoutplaces like First Bank, richmond
, wayne Bank, the Ronald LMcDaniel Foundation, without
those places believing in us.
You know, every we get calls ofwhat do you think about a club
here or club there?
And it's well.
We have to have the, you know,financial capability to open up
(35:12):
a Boys and Girls Club, becauseat $15 a year we never want to
profit off of the youth and thefamilies that we serve, and so
that takes so much support frommany businesses, including
manpower, that that give to theBoys and Girls Club.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
You know the late, great Jeff Jeffers.
I mean he set, I mean he setthings up for people in the
community, these differentorganizations you've mentioned
to, to make these donationsthemselves.
I mean because he was such agiving person and his family
yeah, and so it was great tohave a kind of a trend setter
(35:50):
and giving like he yeah he was,you know, to help get the
Jeffers unit.
You know, with the greatdonations that he made yeah.
And then so many people andorganizations have just gotten
lined behind him and madeincredible donations to the club
and to the foundation, andalways.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Yeah, and thank you so much for saying that late, mr
Jeffers.
I mean, what, what a visionary,like what you know, at that
time we were busting out theseams at our at our unit at that
time.
And so to to vision having theJeffers unit that at our peak,
was serving 375 kids a day atthat unit before we were able to
(36:34):
expand out to other locations.
I mean that was just incredible.
And you're right, like he, hereally spearheaded that and and
got the momentum going to beable to expand even further.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
I'm sure it's a delicate balance.
I mean we we want as many kidsin the building as we can.
At the same time, we want to beable to serve them well with us
.
You know child to staff ratiosor whatever.
So the other units have reallydone well to help us with that.
I'm sure.
Yeah and uh and we right now wehave room for more kids.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Yeah, yeah, we do.
And I would say, michael, frommy 13 years at the boys and
girls club, one of the hardestdecisions we had to make was we
had a waitlist for our Jeffersunit, and that was before we had
first bank, where it is, andthat was before our McDaniel
unit.
And that was hard.
We don't ever want a waitlistfor our youth and for our
(37:26):
families, and so, however, wherewas our quality at when?
You know, some days we had 400kids in that building, and so,
um, we're very, very fortunateto be able to have those
additional locations, but, yes,there's room for growth within
those, and so that's excitingtoo.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Just you mentioned about staff.
I mean we do have a great staff.
I mean you mentioned, like thetrustees, the board members,
your executive leadership group,and then we have other
employees like well, tell us alittle bit how the kids you
mentioned a little bit, but theycan become, they can work
(38:07):
within the club and make alittle bit of money.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
Yeah, yeah, so we have.
We.
It's called our minors asemployees program on a very
flashy name, but we really wantour club members, you know to to
be productive members ofsociety.
So if that isn't getting a jobat McDonald's or in a fast food
place, come work at the club.
And some of our minors asemployee, I mean they are who
(38:33):
our youth need.
You know, they're 16 or olderand they're there every day
after school working with ouryouth.
And then what's also neat is wehave probably 10 of our staff
members right now who wereformer boys and girls club kids,
and those are the staff memberswho truly know how to meet the
needs of our youth, because theywere one of our youth, and so
(38:55):
that's been really neat to see.
And and the tenure ofespecially our leadership team.
We have a very good group ofindividuals who have been
internally promoted into thespots that they're in and
believe in us, and tenure iseverything when you're working
with youth.
You know we pride ourselves onthe supportive relationships we
(39:16):
have, and that starts withknowing a kid's name, knowing
who their adult is, knowing whatsupport looks like for them
inside the club and outside ofthe club, and so we really have
been these last two years haveput a huge focus on the culture
inside of our clubs and makingsure that we're taking care of
our people, our staff members,who are ultimately taking care
of our people, our club membersand we're really proud of that
(39:39):
tenure and longevity of ourstaff.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
And we have a lot of volunteers.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
We do that come and help.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
You were one early on .
Yeah so we have a pretty goodrelationship with Erlam and
volunteers coming.
Yeah, how many do we have on aregular basis?
I would say Erlam students.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
We probably have about eight who kind of rotate
out throughout the semester.
But we also have greatpartnerships with Ivy Tech of
Richmond and then also IUE.
So we get emails very often inregards to hey, we have a
student who needs 20 hours ofservice or 30 hours of service,
and so again, I, I love whenthose volunteers come in for
(40:22):
them because maybe we'reexposing them to a career path
they didn't know.
But I also love it for club kidsbecause they're cool.
You know we're.
I'm not that cool anymore,thank you.
But you know, having thosecollege students in I mean
that's a big deal to our kids.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
So yeah, I I'm just amazed all the people just
coming in the doors of staff andthey're just so awesome.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
They are.
Thank you, they're good people.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
So we need people, we need facilities, we also need
money.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Right, I mean, this is it's just a stark reality.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
I'm not good for operations, and I think I'm
right and you correct me if I'mwrong, but I think our budget
for 2024 is almost like 3million.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
Yeah, yeah, just over 3 million, yeah, so that's a
lot of money.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
That is, can you share with our followers how we
go about bringing in that muchmoney for operations, cause it
seems like it's a lot.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
Yeah, so, um, a good chunk of that is government
funding, um, you know 40% isgovernment.
Um also grants we Paul Lauer isin charge of our grants and he
is a rock star Um, and he doessuch a good job of knowing what
programming our youth need andtying that into different
(41:40):
funding opportunities.
So a lot comes from governmentand grants, um, and then a lot
comes from foundations and thenanother good chunk comes from
our corporate sponsors.
You know the businesses herelocally that believe in us and
believe in the work that we do.
Um, and then another good chunkof that comes from individuals.
(42:02):
It is it is so, um inspiring inthis position to just see how
many people believe in the workthat we do.
You know, and in my former umposition working with operations
, you felt the impact fromworking with the kids every day
and that just fueled your heart.
(42:22):
But being in this position tosee how many people believe in
the boys and girls club and theimpact and the need that it
fills in our community, it'sjust.
It makes you just want to domore and more every single day.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
I don't, I don't have an hour or I would read all
fall and this annual report.
I mean, it's amazing, it's justsheets of of companies and
people, organizations that giveuh to the club, and it's like, I
think, six seven pages in here.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
It's a small font size too.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
I had to get my reading glasses.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
I'm able to read them but.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
I mean, that's, that's such a great story.
Yeah, one thing I think peoplewould find amazing is that the
membership for the club is 15bucks.
So if we have 2000 members,that generates about 30,000
dollars a year and some, andthat's about 1% of our budget.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
So so why do we charge?
Number one question is like whydo we charge at all?
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Yeah.
So we charge as as part of aninvestment to that adult that
you know you have a piece ofbuy-in into our organization and
so we also have a membershipapplication.
And then a couple of years agowe started we have to have a new
parent or adult orientation forour club members because you
(43:50):
know there's a lot the the boysand girls club.
It's not a school and they, youknow we have that open
programming and so there's a lotof expectations that we hold
our members accountable to.
So part of that is that $15,however, a lot of our families
$15 is too much, or you havethree kids and you don't have
$45.
And so at the end of the day,we will never like no questions
(44:15):
asked.
We will cover that $15 andthat's that's available through
Tyler Winfrey MemorialScholarship Fund.
So he was one of our clubmembers that passed away a
couple of years ago, which was ahuge loss, and we wanted to
keep his name relevant and soany teen who needs a scholarship
can get it through his fund.
And then also the action fundthat was originated by Tim
(44:37):
Scales at IU East and thatactually I was talking to Tim
Scales yesterday and that's atits 20th year and so that's so
neat that you know if you can'tafford $15, you know, maybe it's
750 or it's just free andthat's okay.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
Yeah.
So I mean I like the idea ofthe buy in application process,
but at the same time, like yousaid, we're not going to turn
any kid away.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
No, no, so that we can't.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
We want them to be able to enjoy the benefits of
what the club can offer to them.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
Uh ahead, what would you say might be a challenge for
the club moving forward?
I mean, if there's anything onthe horizon that you see.
Not trying to be negative, Imean there's anything that we do
.
There's these things that comeup that might fall on our radar.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
Yeah, I think if a challenge and something that
we're always concerned about ishow are we staying relevant
enough and current enough tomeet the needs of the people who
work for us?
Because when you work withyouth, you're really not working
with youth to get this giganticpaycheck.
(45:48):
And so making sure that we arestaying current with what we're
paying our people with takingand providing other
opportunities to our staffmembers, because ultimately,
it's our people that create ourimpact on the most important
group of people.
So just being aware of that andthen also making sure that, as
(46:10):
we're growing and we're fillingup our current units, that we're
still maintaining that qualityof our programming that we take
a lot of pride in.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
Well, I think that I mean no one really gets into the
not for profit realm to getrich.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
And but I think it's great that our local club is
doing what they can tocompensate people best they can
with benefits and whatever toreward them for the job that
they're doing, and so there's abalance there and but I think
the club's doing the very bestthey can in that realm.
(46:50):
Thank you, so what's kind ofchallenges?
But what are you mostencouraged about?
Like looking ahead right now.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
Yeah, I think what's most encouraging right now is
just the momentum and theinspiration you get from so many
people believing in one thingyou know we have a very strong
mission, a very importantmission that we have to fill,
and to know that there's a teamof people standing right there
(47:20):
beside you, along with you, isjust exciting.
And knowing that as part of ourvision is to continue to
address the needs of our youngpeople and those needs are
changing I mean, they've changedso much as we've navigated
throughout the pandemic andknowing that we have the
(47:41):
resources through our people,through different grant funded
opportunities, to meet thoseneeds is just it's encouraging.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
If you had to identify, maybe just one.
If you have two, you can haveme to say it.
But I mean what do you think isa kind of a next level of
service for the club?
I mean something that maybeisn't happening now but you
could see, I could really seethat really benefiting our
community with the club helpingto drive that.
Is there anything?
Like that in your mind.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Yeah, I think two things.
So the WEN program focus onworkforce and life force
readiness that started last yearand so we want to grow that
Like.
We have great results that cameout of that.
We had 30, 16, ages that wereimpacted from that program and
we need to do more.
There's more than 30, 16s inour community who need that, and
(48:34):
I'm really excited that we hadthe ability to hire a full time
Larry Young teen and workforcedevelopment position and having
that full time position toreally be able to expand our
team, so we're not just serving50 teens a day, we're serving 75
.
So there's room there.
And then the other position thatwe've put a lot of focus into
(48:57):
is our director of socialemotional learning, but really
focusing that on health andwellness.
Our young people have so manyemotions that can be very
challenging to regulate andmanage, and so I think that's
another opportunity that we canown at the Boys and Girls Club
is when I'm having my rough day,when I'm having my hard moment,
(49:20):
I don't do something with myactions.
I take the time to write it outor speak to an adult who cares
about me.
So I think those are two needsthat our young people really
need and we're just expandingour resources at the Boys and
Girls Club to be able to meetthose.
Speaker 1 (49:37):
I was writing down some notes for our discussion
today.
Two things I wrote down wasthat when I talked about next
level of service was what wemight be able to do to support
parents.
And then also you kind of hiton it a little bit about
counseling For kids that need alittle extra to open that realm.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
Yeah, yeah, and I'm so glad that you said that about
caregivers, parents, the adultsof our youth, because that's
huge.
We can do so much in the threeto four hours that we have our
kids after school, but if theadults that our kids are going
home to aren't on the same page,you're just starting over the
(50:22):
next day.
And so I'm very proud of SydneyLieberman, our COO, with her
focus that she's had on makingsure we have family nights,
trying to get the adults of ourclub members into the club as
volunteers so they understandthe programming and what we're
teaching.
And there's also a really bigpush.
It's called TVRI, so TrustSpace Relational Intervention,
(50:46):
and that has been huge.
We trained all of our staffabout a year ago on that and
it's basically meeting our kidswhere they are and trying to
bring them where we hope thatthey need to be.
And so we are actually at theBoys and Girls Club focusing on
how can we provide that sametraining to the caregivers of
our youth, because, again,that's great that we're trained,
(51:08):
but we also need to train ouradults as well.
So we're focused on that, andso that's exciting.
And sorry, can you remind me ofyour second one?
Speaker 1 (51:16):
I said just counseling.
Yeah, I don't know where thatfalls, in what pile that falls
into.
Maybe it's not a club thing,maybe it's through some other
organization or through theschools, whatever.
But I think about that becausemy church we brought in a pastor
(51:39):
about two years ago and one ofhis primary duties was
counseling and he's booked.
Yeah, and it's not just ifanybody that's listening.
I'm not saying everybody'sbooked with everybody in our
congregation, but I mean becauseit's not exclusive.
But I mean people just needthat help and if you have
(52:00):
someone that's good at that,they can work through some
issues and they're better off.
They're good, they're moving.
They can get on the right pathand they're moving straight
ahead.
Speaker 2 (52:12):
Yeah, I agree, we have great partnerships with
Meridian and Centerstone to comein and help counsel our club
members as they need to.
I think that's hard for us toown that because you have to
make sure that you have thecertifications and all of that,
but it's leaning into ourpartners who are the experts in
(52:34):
that realm and making sure thatthey know the club is a safe
place where they can do thatwith our youth.
So that's exciting.
And then for all of the youthworkers in the state of Indiana
that just rolled out in 2024,all of our youth workers and
anyone in our family has accessto free telehealth and then also
(52:54):
telecounseling.
And that's huge too, becausethere's a lot of firsthand
trauma that can go on whenyou're working with kids and
that can be hard to process andyou don't want to take that home
into your house and let itspill out there.
And so I'm very proud of thestate of Indiana and that was
through the Lilly Foundation toprovide that funding and that's
(53:16):
for five years that anyoneworking with youth has access to
that.
Speaker 1 (53:20):
That's great news, yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (53:23):
So we've covered a lot.
Again, thank you for coming intoday.
Is there anything else that youjust really feel compared, that
you would love to share aboutthe club right now?
Is there anything that wehaven't really covered that you
feel like I'd really like to saythat?
Speaker 2 (53:39):
Just that.
If you or you know someone whois in need of after school care
or care in the summer, pleasecall us at the Boys and Girls
Club.
It's such an opportunity forour youth to be able to really
have this palace at any of ourclubs that they get to walk into
and it's just filled with kidsfrom all different schools, all
(53:59):
different backgrounds,socioeconomic statuses and it's
a great place.
But also a huge thank you toyou for being such a tenured
board member and your leadershipon the board and Michael has
also done our Youth of the Yearselection process, which is a
huge honor for our club membersto be named as Youth of the Year
(54:20):
helped with our scholarshipcommittee and our golf outings.
So thank you so much forbelieving in the club.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
I love every minute of it.
After hearing from you today,I'm sure there's people that
might be interested insupporting the club,
volunteering, maybe even working, and help me out if I get this
wrong.
But if you go to bgcrichmanorg,it's boys, girls girls of the
(54:47):
club.
Richmondorg.
On the homepage there arevarious links to do all these
things.
Speaker 2 (54:52):
Yes, and it's real easy to find.
Speaker 1 (54:55):
So if you're interested and also if you're
interested in employmentopportunity, you can go to the
Get Involved tab right.
And you can find a link foremployment opportunities.
There's about three listedthere right now, so did I get
that right.
Speaker 2 (55:09):
Yeah, that was perfect, thank you.
Anything else to add to thatpart?
No, thank you.
Speaker 1 (55:13):
So thanks to you and your great team for the
difference you're making inWayne County, and the impact
you're making is much greaterthan you probably realize, and
so, whatever platform you'rewatching or listening to, please
help spread the word.
We want likes, we want shares,we want subscribers.
(55:35):
It just helps us get the wordout to more people.
So thank you so much, aliciafor joining us.
You're doing a great job and itwas great hearing about the club
and I'm sure that people aregoing to love to hear what
you've had to say today.
Speaker 2 (55:48):
Thank you so much.
Thank you, this was fun.
Speaker 1 (55:51):
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Hello and welcome to the Hubpowered by Manpower of Richmond.
I am your host, michael Allen,and here on the Hub we interview
local business leaders,community partners and various
awesome individuals and specialguests, and our mission here is
(00:47):
to share and spotlight uniqueand untold stories of companies,
organizations and people whoare making a difference in our
community.
So today's guest on the Hub isAlicia Painter, the chief
executive officer of the Boysand Girls Club of Wayne County,
and she's definitely an awesomeperson and she's leading an
(01:09):
awesome organization.
So welcome to the Hub.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Oh, thank you so much .
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Thank you for joining us and we've known each other
for several years now with ourconnection with the club and as
a board member and you and yourvarious roles in the club, and I
gotta tell you I've reallyenjoyed working with you more
since you become the chiefexecutive officer and I'm so
happy that you agreed to join us.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Oh, thank you so much .
It's a pleasure working withyou.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
So I'm really anxious to adjourn to chronicle your
journey with the Boys and GirlsClubs.
But before we get into that,why don't you just share with us
a little bit about yourself,like where you grew up?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yeah, so I grew up in Westchester, Ohio, so I went to
Lakota School District and thenmy sophomore year of high
school I moved out tomorrow,Ohio, which is a very small area
, graduated from Little MiamiHigh School and I knew that I
wanted to play volleyball incollege.
So I was fortunate enough tocome to Erlum College to play
(02:20):
volleyball, which was veryexciting and that really created
the most important chapter ofmy life, which is finding
Richmond and really putting ourroots into this community.
So, with going to Erlum andplaying volleyball at Erlum, I
was also a Bonner scholar, whichis what introduced me to the
(02:40):
Boys and Girls Club.
I also met my husband myfreshman year of college, his
sophomore year, and we've beentogether ever since.
We started our family here andwe have three kids who are
everyday Boys and Girls Clubmembers.
We have Grayson, who's 10, andEleanor and Harper, who are
twins who are eight years old.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So how did it come about that Erlum ended up being
where you chose to come?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, so I was.
The liberal arts collegeexperience was really exciting
to me.
I also really fell in love withthis community from you know
the visits.
I was looking at a lot ofdifferent colleges, but between
what education I would be ableto get as well as playing
volleyball.
That's really what helped mechoose Erlum.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
So just explain for us just a little bit what does
it mean to be a Bonner scholar?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah.
So a Bonner scholar, you havethe ability you receive
financial funding to be able tovolunteer in inside of the
community, and so my freshmanyear I actually had, you know,
the ability to be a work studystudent.
So I was on campus, but as aBonner scholar they really want
to push you out into thecommunity and focus on
(03:58):
volunteering.
So that just really opened thedoor to experiencing what
Richmond had to offer, and I'mso fortunate for that.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
So what was your major area study?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, so I graduated.
My major was psychology andthen a minor in education.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
All right.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So did you think that you would eventually end up
working in an organization likethe Boys and Girls Club?
Was that kind of on your radar?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
It wasn't, it wasn't at all.
So I always knew I wanted to dosomething with kids.
That's my passion.
I love teaching, those lightbulb moments that happen.
So I just always assumed Iwould be a teacher, and I am so
lucky that I walked into theBoys and Girls Club doors,
(04:49):
because I didn't have a Boys andGirls Club where I grew up.
And so just seeing all of thesekids, hundreds of kids, after
school and being able to decidehow you want to work with them,
you know, do you want to andthat's what I did Coach
volleyball with them down in thegym, or do soccer or cooking
class in the kitchen, that justreally opened my eyes to okay,
(05:14):
this could be, this could be ourcareer path.
And so and I think that'swhat's really important about
volunteering is it just exposesyou to so many different
opportunities that you might nothave otherwise, and so I'm
really, I'm really fortunate forhow it played out.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Well, I want to go through how your you know your
career went through with theBoys and Girls Club, but we have
this tradition that I do onthis podcast is where we asked
the person about their first job.
Okay so what was your very?
First job that you can remember.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
I remember it very clearly, it was working at
McDonald's, yeah.
So as soon as I turned 14,there was no option.
It was you go and get a job,because that's what you do.
And so I started at McDonald's,working mostly in the
drive-through or the frontcounter, and I loved it.
I loved it and I loved itbecause it really you know,
(06:09):
sports teaches you so much aboutdiscipline and work ethic, but
working fast food does the exactsame thing.
Right, those are very hard,challenging jobs and you're on
your feet, and what I learnedfrom that experience was either
be busy, look busy or you'regoing home, and I think that's
so important to learn at a youngage.
(06:30):
So, yeah, it was one of myfavorite jobs working there.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Well, I had a similar experience.
You know doing fast food.
You know like you, andsometimes we hear a little bit
of negativity about working atnot specifically McDonald's but
fast food or whatever, but Ithink that's a wonderful
training ground for people toexperience learning on the job
(06:58):
and being introduced into theworking world.
Yeah, and I think you couldprobably go through a lot of
people who have had successful,who have had success in their
life, in their career, likeyourself, and a lot of them did
things like work at McDonald's.
Yeah so so I think we need to,you know, really encourage that
(07:20):
with our youth to step out andhave employment experiences like
that, yeah, because I thinkthey're very invaluable.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, they are, and it just it reminds you to have
so much respect.
I mean, those jobs they're hardand we need them and so that
exposure and we, you know, we'rereally focused on workforce
readiness, life and workforcereadiness at the Boys and Girls
Club and that's a path that Itruly, I personally believe
every young person should havean experience in the fast food
(07:53):
world.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
So with the Boys and Girls Club?
Yeah, your first experience wasa volunteer, so you weren't
getting paid, right, you'revolunteering, so what was your?
What did you just start outdoing?
Was it volleyball?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, yeah, so Ryan Wheeler he is actually.
He worked for our organizationin Wayne County and he's
actually now a CEO down inSeymour, indiana, so he
encouraged me to come in and dovolleyball.
And then, of course, that's apassion that I have, and so how
neat is that when you can alignyour passion of working with
(08:28):
kids and a passion for a sportthat you have.
So then that quickly becameinto okay.
Now our next season is soccer.
What can you do for a soccer?
Not as much, but I'll try.
And then the cooking class andit just yeah, it just went from
there.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
So at one, at one point, you decided you were
going to apply for a position.
Yeah, so tell us a little bitabout what that was.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, so I also.
One summer, when I was astudent at Erlum, I volunteered
for the summer as a Bonnerscholar down at our camp guy.
So we have a 168 acre camp downin Connorsville and that really
solidified that.
The Boys and Girls Club iswhere my heart is, and being
(09:13):
able to take, you know, abusload of kids down there who
have never seen a river beforethey've net, they don't even
know what a creek walk is, eventhough it's kind of
self-explanatory, but being ableto do that for an entire summer
, it was just incredible.
So the only opening that wasavailable at the club when I
graduated from Erlum in 2011 wasto be the camp director.
(09:36):
So it was an hourly positionand it it was one of those
moments of okay, you justgraduated from college, as this
is this, your next step, and I'mso grateful that it was my next
step.
So I ended up getting thatposition, and it was just for
the summer.
We didn't know what wouldhappen after that.
So I had an incrediblesupervisor, larry Stone at the
(09:59):
time, who just taught me so much, and so, yeah, so that that was
my first paid position at theclub.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
So did you transition from that job, which was just
for the summer, to anotherposition within the club?
I mean, did you ever workanywhere else in between?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
No, no, this has been my only adult career path,
which I'm so fortunate to beable to say that.
So after camp, luckily enough,a program director position
became available at our Jeffersunit on the south side of
Richmond.
So I started in that and thenworked my way up.
(10:37):
They finally gave me the titleunit director, so that was
exciting.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And that was at Jeffers yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yeah, that was at Jeffers and it was just so
rewarding.
It was so rewarding.
You know every, every positionor promotion that you have when
you're working with kids.
You kind of move up and you'renot working as directly with
kids, but I really found thisnew passion of working with our
adults at the club and beingable to, you know, provide more
(11:04):
training and professionaldevelopment opportunities for
our staff to be able to impactour youth on an even greater
scale.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
So so did.
You were a unit director for awhile.
Yeah, how long were you in that?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
role I would.
I was a unit director and thenalso senior unit director for
probably six years.
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And then I think then it transitioned to Bruce Daggy
saying he was going to retire.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And there was a search committee put together
right, yeah.
And you applied for theposition and was.
Was that kind of nerve wrackingto apply for that?
And, like you know, becauseyou've been there for all this
time and now you're going forthe top position and then if you
(11:55):
didn't get it, I would thinkthat would be a little bit of a
oh, what do I do?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
now, yeah right, it was, it was.
And you know Bruce, bruce waswith our, our organization, for
28 years and Bruce did so muchfor our organization to take us,
you know, from serving kids atone location to serving youth at
five different locations acrossthe county.
And so those were and I heardit all the time really big shoes
(12:21):
to fill, and so it was.
But I knew that I had enoughtrust and faith in the selection
and the search process that ifI didn't get it, that's okay.
I mean, that means somebodyelse was more qualified and I
would happily work along withthem to do what our youth need
us to do.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
So well everything any contact I've had with you
through the years.
Your statement there, I thinkthat's a really genuine
statement that speaks to yourcharacter, I think you would
have done that, but I'm happy,you know, for you getting the
position.
I think you're doing awonderful job here, heading into
(13:03):
, like your second year orfinishing two years in the role.
And so how was it?
You mentioned a little bitabout it, but it had to be a
little daunting.
You have some, a person thatwas in the position for so long,
and was it?
Was there any kind of?
(13:23):
Did it feel kind of bumpy earlyon, or did it it just kind of
work out, I mean?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
it really it flowed.
Our, our organization is sostrong and it starts with a
strong board of directors and weare so fortunate and you're
you're an incredible member ofthat team to have a 40 person
board of directors and thatreally creates our foundation
and provides organizationalstrength.
(13:48):
We also have a board oftrustees who help oversee our
endowment, and that's justincredible, incredible
individuals to tap into for whatwe need.
And then our team at the club.
You know we transitioned withBruce's retirement from an
executive director to going intoa CEO, a CFO and a COO.
(14:10):
So having Jennifer Feister asour CFO, having Sydney Lieberman
as our COO, I mean we we'resuch a strong team and it's it's
so nice to know when to leaninto each other to provide that
support that we might not be theexpert in, but we know who the
expert is and we can, you know,get their advice on that.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah Well, it definitely seems to work well
with an organization, at leastfrom my perspective and what I
see, and it's just a differentchapter for the club.
I mean, it was time for Bruceto step aside when he wanted to
and and now you're just creatinga whole new chapter for the
(14:53):
club and and doing a terrificjob.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Thank you?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
How is it having your kids at the club?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Because I mean there's good days and bad days.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
I mean, are they there, Like?
Have they been there like allthe time since they were old
enough to be there?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Their best birthday present when they turned six
years old was their Boys andGirls Club card.
Like they could not wait to beBoys and Girls Club members.
It's, it's amazing.
It is so rewarding to have yourown kids and their highlight
reel every day is at the club.
I got to do healthy habits andwe made this snack at the club.
(15:33):
I got to have one-on-one helpwith one of our tutors, allison,
at the Jeffers unit.
Like it is so amazing to hearfirsthand from your own kids how
beneficial it is to be a Boysand Girls Club member.
So I wouldn't change it for theworld.
I love that my office is.
Just happens to be I didn'tpull any strings to make this
(15:54):
happen Just happens to be thesame clubs that they go to, and
it's just, it is incredible, itis.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
So it's never like they don't want to go.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
No no, no, they are, they are dying to go.
And and you know the club,we're open every day after
school, but we're also open onspring break and fall break and
holiday break, so, and in thesummer and so it's always, you
know, we'll we'll have familymembers.
We don't have family that liveshere in Richmond's.
We'll have family who say, well, I'm going to come up on Friday
(16:25):
to pick them up and it's like,well, you better not come until
five o'clock because that'stheir club time.
So it uh, yeah, every day theylove coming to the salsa.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
What a interesting story it would be if one of your
kids pursues a career in theboys and girls.
And to think, I mean, thatwould be just an incredible
story, that well, ever since Iwas old enough to go to the club
, it's been in my life.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
That way.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
I'm sure that's I don't know if you've ever
thought about that, but thatwould be pretty amazing.
Yeah, and I have thought aboutthat only because, if you ask
any of them right now, theyeither want to work in the games
room when they graduate or theyone of them wants to be our
next CEO.
So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
That's just wonderful and you're just bringing in
another generation ofindividuals that are learning to
care for the needs of otherpeople.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, yeah, and I think that's.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
That's a great experience for them.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Thank you for saying that, and and that's what all of
our boys and girls clubs, boysand girls club members we try to
teach them Like if you haveenough to give, then give it.
And that might be your time,that might be.
You have five sheets of paperand one kid doesn't have any, so
you're sharing with them.
But we really try to instill inour boys and girls club members
(17:47):
the the need to give to othersor the need to give back to our
community, because our communityhere in Wayne County gives so
much to us at the boys and girlsclub.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yes, so the we'll get into a little bit more of the
nitty gritty about the club.
So type this up here so Iremember it well.
So our mission is to inspireand and enable all young people,
especially those who need usthe most to realize their full
potential as productive,responsible and caring citizens.
(18:21):
So when we look at like lastyear 2023, you've got to feel
pretty good about the directionthe club is headed.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Absolutely, absolutely, and our, our
favorite words and that entiremission statement are those who
need us the most.
That's what we're here for andand I think sometimes when we
hear those words, we think aboutsocioeconomic status, we think
about those, you know, who justfinancially need some more
support.
But it doesn't stop there.
(18:51):
Those who need us the mostcould be because both their
adults work full-time jobs andthey don't get off until five,
30 or six o'clock at night andthe club's open until 630.
So those who need us the most.
When we have our monthly meet,leadership meetings or operation
meetings every month, we alwaysthink back to are we serving
those who need us the most?
(19:11):
And whatever we're we're tryingto do next, is it serving those
who need us the most?
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I wrote down a couple of things here.
We we have 1,961 club membersI'm sure that number always is
fluctuating and then there wasan additional almost 3,000 that
were reached through communityoutreach.
Yes, say it.
(19:41):
So what is that I mean?
Speaker 2 (19:42):
what does?
Speaker 1 (19:42):
that look like.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, so about 2,000 of that number are serving youth
during the school day.
So we actually have trainedstaff who go in and run
prevention programming in allfive of our county school
districts.
We also have teachers who havebeen trained on our programming
to also facilitate thatcurriculum as well, and we're
(20:06):
really proud of that.
We're really proud of, you know, how many youth were able to
serve for that.
But then that's also, you know,we have monthly teen, we have
monthly family nights wherefamilies will come in, and so
all those numbers add up.
We also do Easter egg hunt andjust different community events.
So that's where that numbercomes from.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Then I would think that hopefully by exposing youth
through some special events,whatever, then the hope would be
that they might become clubmembers.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Absolutely yeah, that really helps.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
It's kind of a recruitment tool.
Yeah it is Exposing them tothat.
Yeah, right now we're averagingabout 524, 25 or so youth a day
.
Yeah, right, yeah.
And our summer attendance is alittle over 200.
And I think this number isgreat.
We have over 400 teen members.
(20:58):
Yeah, our average there isaround 50.
I think we'd like to see thathigher.
We would.
What are your thoughts aboutthose numbers and where they're
headed and where the club wouldlike to see it go?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, yeah.
So we always want to be able toserve more youth.
We want to make sure that we'reknocking down every barrier
that keeps a child fromattending one of our boys and
girls clubs or a teen fromattending.
So we're very focused on that.
But we're also proud I mean tobe able to serve.
You know we shared at our mostrecent annual dinner, 27% of
(21:36):
Richmond community schoolstudents are boys and girls club
members.
That's a number to be proud of.
One in every four of our CSstudents are coming to the club.
So we want we want to increasehow many kids we're serving, but
we also want to focus on ourquality too.
So it's that you know thestruggle we all have with
balancing quantity and quality.
(21:57):
So we're really proud of ouroperations team.
So we have 14 members of our onour operations team who ever
see our clubs are every dayoperations with our youth, and
so every Friday they're actuallyin one of our schools to help
recruit and retain our members.
So hey, I haven't seen you in acouple of days.
You know you should come to theclub.
This Friday we're having aValentine's Day dance, and so we
(22:21):
want to grow that number whilealso making sure that we're
growing our quality as well.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
You can tell me what you think about this, but I
think you know we're.
It's about bringing up the nextgeneration within our community
, helping them develop.
It's also, I think, preservinghope for our community,
especially those who can, whowill continue to be part of our
community, because we'll needthem.
(22:49):
You know the carry to torch,torch forward for us.
That's part of, I think, whatthe club is doing is is, you
know, making those, thoseinvestments for the future
generation that will be aroundhere or elsewhere, but also here
.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Yeah, and what a responsibility to have that's.
That's a major responsibility,but also how fortunate are we
that we get to have a hand inthat?
And so I mentioned earlierabout life and workforce
readiness.
It is our responsibility toexpose our youth and our
teenagers to different careerpaths that they might not have
(23:28):
thought of.
So if you walked into our clubs, you know, a year ago, you
would ask the kids hey, you know, what do you want to be when
you grow up?
And you would get the typicalpolice officer, teacher, doctor.
You know that's what you wouldget.
But especially through our winprogram or workforce workforce
initiative network that you'vehelped with, we've been able to
(23:49):
take our teenagers to manpower.
We've been able to take them toa house, take them to read
health and see all the differentcareer paths that happen there,
and so we also start thatcareer exploration as early as
six years old by having JeffLoge, a veterinarian, come in
and talk about what a day lookslike in his role, in his
(24:10):
position, and so I think that'sthat's really important too.
Is that talking about hope, isthat exposure to all the
different possibilities that areout there?
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Right, the.
We have programs and impactsand the club has three priority
areas academic success, healthylifestyles, good character,
citizenship.
There's so much going on inthose areas.
Can you tell us a little aboutthese areas and how we're
(24:41):
helping our youth achievepositive outcomes in these areas
?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, so academic success every day.
When youth walk into our clubs,we actually have what we call
open programming, so kids get topick and choose what they want
to do.
We don't force them to.
You have to go to the gym now.
You have to go to the classroom.
Every one of our units has aclassroom.
So if you have homework, youcan get help from one of our our
(25:05):
trained staff members tocomplete your homework.
But you also have what we callpower hour pages, and so you
earn points inside of ourclassroom for doing power hour
pages, which is work related towhat grade you're in.
You also get points forcompleting your homework.
And so at the end of each month,because we have to be fun, you
know we safety's first, but funfollows a very close second, and
(25:30):
so when you get these points,at the end of every month we
have what we call a power hourstore, so our kids get a shop
with all the points that theyearned from getting their
homework done or doing powerhour pages.
We also have one on onetutoring, and so we have
licensed teachers who come inwho are boys and girls club
staff members and they work oneon one with our kids who need
(25:51):
that extra help.
So we're very proud.
We also have an Indiana kidsprogram where kids focus on
career exploration, theirhomework completion, but also
volunteer service hours.
So we're tracking that everyyouth a part of our Indiana kids
program does 10 hours ofvolunteer work, and that could
be inside of our clubs, thatcould be a field trip out in the
(26:12):
community.
A lot of the times it happensto be picking up trash, which is
a good thing to teach our kidshow to do.
And so, yeah, academic successis very important to us and just
partnering with our schools aswell.
We are a 21st century learningsite, so we do.
We're able to get feedback fromour teachers of what youth who
(26:34):
are club members who could needsome use some extra help at the
club.
Healthy lifestyles is veryimportant.
We want our kids to participatein our club fit programming.
So that's encouraging,encouraging them to be active
for at least 45 minutes each day.
So we strongly encourage that.
But also with healthylifestyles, is that prevention
(26:54):
programming, the healthy habitshabits, that cooking class
program, that's that they love,that there's like a waitlist for
that program.
So we're really proud of whatwe do with healthy lifestyles.
And then my personal favoriteis a good character and
citizenship.
So that's teaching our membersto be those productive,
responsible, caring members ofsociety.
(27:16):
And so you see that with ourjunior helpers program, where
our 10 to 13 year old memberswill have to do so many hours of
service inside of our clubs andthey have time sheets and they
have a weekly meeting, they getinterviewed to be a junior
helper, so it's preparing themfor their next step in life.
But you also see that withtorch club and Keystone, which
(27:38):
are leadership programs for our10 and older members, so they're
more active inside thecommunity and volunteer at
different events.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
So I've had a pretty decent interaction with the
youth in those programs and youcan tell the impact you've made
with them just in the way theyinteract with you and the way
they carry themselves.
So it's definitely a programthat's reaping benefits.
I'm going to use our annualreport here just to go over a
(28:09):
few things.
You know we had 219 clubmembers participate in the 21st
century.
This number was me waited 4,658, one on one tutoring sessions.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, that's incredible and those are one on
one you and a licensed teachergoing through what you need and
the help that you need.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
I mean that's a lot of hours.
I know that's a lot of sessions.
I should say yeah they probablycould be less or more than an
hour, but I would.
I mean, that's just got to beinvaluable, those one on one
time.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
And with that, too, is mentoring.
Yeah, you're focused on that.
You know that math that youneed help on, but it's also you
have a caring adult who is thereto support you.
So a lot of the times, you'refocused on your academics, but
you're also focused on life, andso that supportive relationship
is very important kind ofcherry picking here a little bit
(29:10):
, but there we had almost 1400students who participated in too
good for drugs program.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Yep, and I think that's so important.
I mean it's a great number,first of all, but we continue to
have challenges in not aloneour community but different
communities, with drug abuse andanything that we can do to
catch our kids early, hopefullywe'll get them out of the, I
(29:39):
guess, the lure that happenswith in that area.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Yeah, absolutely, and that program focuses a lot on
self esteem and confidence.
And how do you navigate,especially as you get older?
How to say no?
You know, like yeah, you justyou know, as parents, we hope
that we teach you.
Well, you just say no, well,there's so much more to that.
Absolutely and how do younavigate those conversations?
Speaker 1 (30:04):
In the good character and citizenship your favorite.
Yeah, 98% of our our teens areon track to graduate high school
.
Pretty good.
Yeah 80% are on track to pursuefurther education and 65%
volunteer in the community.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Those are some numbers to be super proud of.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Thank you.
We have a great team.
It can't none of this impact aspossible without so many
individuals making it happenfacilities.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
We have a lot of facilities.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
And I don't know if everyone?
Speaker 1 (30:42):
I'm sure they do.
But you know, let me just namethem.
We have the Jeffers unit onSouth Elstreet, we have the
McDaniel unit on West Main, wehave first bank unit North 12th
and then the clubs, teen centersis on West Main and then we
have the Hagerstown unit whichis on North Sycamore in
Hagerstown.
(31:03):
We have the Wayne Bank unitwhich is on Queen Street in
Pershing, and you mentionedearlier one of your early
favorites is this camp guy inConnorsville and then excuse me
my voice today we have thelongest named facility, which is
(31:24):
the West End Bank CharitableFoundation Professional
Development and Training Center,and that is also at the Wayne
the West Main Street location.
So to our followers, I thinkthat would sound like a lot for
a community our size.
How are they different?
Is there any differences?
(31:45):
How are they unique?
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, every one?
A great question.
Every unit is so different andit's so different because of the
staff who are running andfacilitating the program.
So, unit director, who'soverseeing the club, but also
the kids who come there.
And so you know, talking aboutour Richmond clubs, what I love
about our Richmond clubs is thatall of them, you know, we have
(32:10):
North, south and West Side ofRichmond, so we're hitting youth
in those neighborhoods, whichis so important in regards to
accessibility.
But they're all across thestreet or right next to our low
income housing, and so we have agreat partnership with the
Richmond Housing Authority towhere every youth who lives in
one of those low income housingunits gets a free Boys and Girls
(32:33):
Club membership, paid for bythe Housing Authority, and so
that's incredible.
And so when you go into theclubs the kids, they take so
much ownership, one of thethings we always say.
So we have weekly gym meetingswhere all of our kids come
together and we talk about thethree Rs, the expectations of
the club, respect the club,respect the staff, we respect
(32:55):
each other.
But then we always say and whoowns this club?
And we'll go, we'll go to Garyon this club.
The kids will be like no, doesMiss Sydney on this club?
No, who owns this club?
And they go, we do, and sothat's so important to them to
know that this is your club, andthen you can tell them, you
know, one day your kids will beable to and they're all like, ew
(33:16):
, we're not having kids, butyou're like.
No, like, it's for the nextgeneration as much as it's for
you, and so we love that ouryouth were able to serve youth
in those neighborhoods.
Being able to serve youth outin Cambridge City, pershing,
that has been an incredibleexperience to offer boys and
(33:36):
girls club after schoolopportunity for them, our youth
that go to Hagerstown.
You know that club is about 100, 110 kids a day.
I mean we're kind of busting atthe seams out there, which is
exciting.
So we love that our adults haveoptions.
It's hopefully you know, havingthose different units makes
transportation a little biteasier.
(33:56):
Another thing for Richmondclubs if you don't have
transportation home, we're gonnaprovide it for you.
You know we really want toknock down all of those barriers
and so, yes, it is a lot ofupkeep to have all of those
facilities, but it's also sorewarding to be able to serve
our youth in the neighborhoodsthat they live in.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Well, I just think it's amazing how things have
come together over these fewyears to have, you know, the
first bank unit at the Townsendsite yeah, because I just think
that's a wonderful location forour youth.
Yeah, so many can connect to asite.
Yeah, and then the one on theWest Side is amazing too.
(34:38):
I mean these things?
They just all little by littleunfolded and came out and I
don't think you couldn't be anyhappy with the way the, at least
within Richmond, the way thecity is covered at this point.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Yeah, I agree completely.
And it's not possible withoutplaces like First Bank, richmond
, wayne Bank, the Ronald LMcDaniel Foundation, without
those places believing in us.
You know, every we get calls ofwhat do you think about a club
here or club there?
And it's well.
We have to have the, you know,financial capability to open up
(35:12):
a Boys and Girls Club, becauseat $15 a year we never want to
profit off of the youth and thefamilies that we serve, and so
that takes so much support frommany businesses, including
manpower, that that give to theBoys and Girls Club.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
You know the late, great Jeff Jeffers.
I mean he set, I mean he setthings up for people in the
community, these differentorganizations you've mentioned
to, to make these donationsthemselves.
I mean because he was such agiving person and his family
yeah, and so it was great tohave a kind of a trend setter
(35:50):
and giving like he yeah he was,you know, to help get the
Jeffers unit.
You know, with the greatdonations that he made yeah.
And then so many people andorganizations have just gotten
lined behind him and madeincredible donations to the club
and to the foundation, andalways.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Yeah, and thank you so much for saying that late, mr
Jeffers.
I mean, what, what a visionary,like what you know, at that
time we were busting out theseams at our at our unit at that
time.
And so to to vision having theJeffers unit that at our peak,
was serving 375 kids a day atthat unit before we were able to
(36:34):
expand out to other locations.
I mean that was just incredible.
And you're right, like he, hereally spearheaded that and and
got the momentum going to beable to expand even further.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
I'm sure it's a delicate balance.
I mean we we want as many kidsin the building as we can.
At the same time, we want to beable to serve them well with us
.
You know child to staff ratiosor whatever.
So the other units have reallydone well to help us with that.
I'm sure.
Yeah and uh and we right now wehave room for more kids.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Yeah, yeah, we do.
And I would say, michael, frommy 13 years at the boys and
girls club, one of the hardestdecisions we had to make was we
had a waitlist for our Jeffersunit, and that was before we had
first bank, where it is, andthat was before our McDaniel
unit.
And that was hard.
We don't ever want a waitlistfor our youth and for our
(37:26):
families, and so, however, wherewas our quality at when?
You know, some days we had 400kids in that building, and so,
um, we're very, very fortunateto be able to have those
additional locations, but, yes,there's room for growth within
those, and so that's excitingtoo.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Just you mentioned about staff.
I mean we do have a great staff.
I mean you mentioned, like thetrustees, the board members,
your executive leadership group,and then we have other
employees like well, tell us alittle bit how the kids you
mentioned a little bit, but theycan become, they can work
(38:07):
within the club and make alittle bit of money.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
Yeah, yeah, so we have.
We.
It's called our minors asemployees program on a very
flashy name, but we really wantour club members, you know to to
be productive members ofsociety.
So if that isn't getting a jobat McDonald's or in a fast food
place, come work at the club.
And some of our minors asemployee, I mean they are who
(38:33):
our youth need.
You know, they're 16 or olderand they're there every day
after school working with ouryouth.
And then what's also neat is wehave probably 10 of our staff
members right now who wereformer boys and girls club kids,
and those are the staff memberswho truly know how to meet the
needs of our youth, because theywere one of our youth, and so
(38:55):
that's been really neat to see.
And and the tenure ofespecially our leadership team.
We have a very good group ofindividuals who have been
internally promoted into thespots that they're in and
believe in us, and tenure iseverything when you're working
with youth.
You know we pride ourselves onthe supportive relationships we
(39:16):
have, and that starts withknowing a kid's name, knowing
who their adult is, knowing whatsupport looks like for them
inside the club and outside ofthe club, and so we really have
been these last two years haveput a huge focus on the culture
inside of our clubs and makingsure that we're taking care of
our people, our staff members,who are ultimately taking care
of our people, our club membersand we're really proud of that
(39:39):
tenure and longevity of ourstaff.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
And we have a lot of volunteers.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
We do that come and help.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
You were one early on .
Yeah so we have a pretty goodrelationship with Erlam and
volunteers coming.
Yeah, how many do we have on aregular basis?
I would say Erlam students.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
We probably have about eight who kind of rotate
out throughout the semester.
But we also have greatpartnerships with Ivy Tech of
Richmond and then also IUE.
So we get emails very often inregards to hey, we have a
student who needs 20 hours ofservice or 30 hours of service,
and so again, I, I love whenthose volunteers come in for
(40:22):
them because maybe we'reexposing them to a career path
they didn't know.
But I also love it for club kidsbecause they're cool.
You know we're.
I'm not that cool anymore,thank you.
But you know, having thosecollege students in I mean
that's a big deal to our kids.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
So yeah, I I'm just amazed all the people just
coming in the doors of staff andthey're just so awesome.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
They are.
Thank you, they're good people.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
So we need people, we need facilities, we also need
money.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Right, I mean, this is it's just a stark reality.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
I'm not good for operations, and I think I'm
right and you correct me if I'mwrong, but I think our budget
for 2024 is almost like 3million.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
Yeah, yeah, just over 3 million, yeah, so that's a
lot of money.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
That is, can you share with our followers how we
go about bringing in that muchmoney for operations, cause it
seems like it's a lot.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
Yeah, so, um, a good chunk of that is government
funding, um, you know 40% isgovernment.
Um also grants we Paul Lauer isin charge of our grants and he
is a rock star Um, and he doessuch a good job of knowing what
programming our youth need andtying that into different
(41:40):
funding opportunities.
So a lot comes from governmentand grants, um, and then a lot
comes from foundations and thenanother good chunk comes from
our corporate sponsors.
You know the businesses herelocally that believe in us and
believe in the work that we do.
Um, and then another good chunkof that comes from individuals.
(42:02):
It is it is so, um inspiring inthis position to just see how
many people believe in the workthat we do.
You know, and in my former umposition working with operations
, you felt the impact fromworking with the kids every day
and that just fueled your heart.
(42:22):
But being in this position tosee how many people believe in
the boys and girls club and theimpact and the need that it
fills in our community, it'sjust.
It makes you just want to domore and more every single day.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
I don't, I don't have an hour or I would read all
fall and this annual report.
I mean, it's amazing, it's justsheets of of companies and
people, organizations that giveuh to the club, and it's like, I
think, six seven pages in here.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
It's a small font size too.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
I had to get my reading glasses.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
I'm able to read them but.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
I mean, that's, that's such a great story.
Yeah, one thing I think peoplewould find amazing is that the
membership for the club is 15bucks.
So if we have 2000 members,that generates about 30,000
dollars a year and some, andthat's about 1% of our budget.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
So so why do we charge?
Number one question is like whydo we charge at all?
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Yeah.
So we charge as as part of aninvestment to that adult that
you know you have a piece ofbuy-in into our organization and
so we also have a membershipapplication.
And then a couple of years agowe started we have to have a new
parent or adult orientation forour club members because you
(43:50):
know there's a lot the the boysand girls club.
It's not a school and they, youknow we have that open
programming and so there's a lotof expectations that we hold
our members accountable to.
So part of that is that $15,however, a lot of our families
$15 is too much, or you havethree kids and you don't have
$45.
And so at the end of the day,we will never like no questions
(44:15):
asked.
We will cover that $15 andthat's that's available through
Tyler Winfrey MemorialScholarship Fund.
So he was one of our clubmembers that passed away a
couple of years ago, which was ahuge loss, and we wanted to
keep his name relevant and soany teen who needs a scholarship
can get it through his fund.
And then also the action fundthat was originated by Tim
(44:37):
Scales at IU East and thatactually I was talking to Tim
Scales yesterday and that's atits 20th year and so that's so
neat that you know if you can'tafford $15, you know, maybe it's
750 or it's just free andthat's okay.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
Yeah.
So I mean I like the idea ofthe buy in application process,
but at the same time, like yousaid, we're not going to turn
any kid away.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
No, no, so that we can't.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
We want them to be able to enjoy the benefits of
what the club can offer to them.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
Uh ahead, what would you say might be a challenge for
the club moving forward?
I mean, if there's anything onthe horizon that you see.
Not trying to be negative, Imean there's anything that we do
.
There's these things that comeup that might fall on our radar.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
Yeah, I think if a challenge and something that
we're always concerned about ishow are we staying relevant
enough and current enough tomeet the needs of the people who
work for us?
Because when you work withyouth, you're really not working
with youth to get this giganticpaycheck.
(45:48):
And so making sure that we arestaying current with what we're
paying our people with takingand providing other
opportunities to our staffmembers, because ultimately,
it's our people that create ourimpact on the most important
group of people.
So just being aware of that andthen also making sure that, as
(46:10):
we're growing and we're fillingup our current units, that we're
still maintaining that qualityof our programming that we take
a lot of pride in.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
Well, I think that I mean no one really gets into the
not for profit realm to getrich.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
And but I think it's great that our local club is
doing what they can tocompensate people best they can
with benefits and whatever toreward them for the job that
they're doing, and so there's abalance there and but I think
the club's doing the very bestthey can in that realm.
(46:50):
Thank you, so what's kind ofchallenges?
But what are you mostencouraged about?
Like looking ahead right now.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
Yeah, I think what's most encouraging right now is
just the momentum and theinspiration you get from so many
people believing in one thingyou know we have a very strong
mission, a very importantmission that we have to fill,
and to know that there's a teamof people standing right there
(47:20):
beside you, along with you, isjust exciting.
And knowing that as part of ourvision is to continue to
address the needs of our youngpeople and those needs are
changing I mean, they've changedso much as we've navigated
throughout the pandemic andknowing that we have the
(47:41):
resources through our people,through different grant funded
opportunities, to meet thoseneeds is just it's encouraging.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
If you had to identify, maybe just one.
If you have two, you can haveme to say it.
But I mean what do you think isa kind of a next level of
service for the club?
I mean something that maybeisn't happening now but you
could see, I could really seethat really benefiting our
community with the club helpingto drive that.
Is there anything?
Like that in your mind.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Yeah, I think two things.
So the WEN program focus onworkforce and life force
readiness that started last yearand so we want to grow that
Like.
We have great results that cameout of that.
We had 30, 16, ages that wereimpacted from that program and
we need to do more.
There's more than 30, 16s inour community who need that, and
(48:34):
I'm really excited that we hadthe ability to hire a full time
Larry Young teen and workforcedevelopment position and having
that full time position toreally be able to expand our
team, so we're not just serving50 teens a day, we're serving 75
.
So there's room there.
And then the other position thatwe've put a lot of focus into
(48:57):
is our director of socialemotional learning, but really
focusing that on health andwellness.
Our young people have so manyemotions that can be very
challenging to regulate andmanage, and so I think that's
another opportunity that we canown at the Boys and Girls Club
is when I'm having my rough day,when I'm having my hard moment,
(49:20):
I don't do something with myactions.
I take the time to write it outor speak to an adult who cares
about me.
So I think those are two needsthat our young people really
need and we're just expandingour resources at the Boys and
Girls Club to be able to meetthose.
Speaker 1 (49:37):
I was writing down some notes for our discussion
today.
Two things I wrote down wasthat when I talked about next
level of service was what wemight be able to do to support
parents.
And then also you kind of hiton it a little bit about
counseling For kids that need alittle extra to open that realm.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
Yeah, yeah, and I'm so glad that you said that about
caregivers, parents, the adultsof our youth, because that's
huge.
We can do so much in the threeto four hours that we have our
kids after school, but if theadults that our kids are going
home to aren't on the same page,you're just starting over the
(50:22):
next day.
And so I'm very proud of SydneyLieberman, our COO, with her
focus that she's had on makingsure we have family nights,
trying to get the adults of ourclub members into the club as
volunteers so they understandthe programming and what we're
teaching.
And there's also a really bigpush.
It's called TVRI, so TrustSpace Relational Intervention,
(50:46):
and that has been huge.
We trained all of our staffabout a year ago on that and
it's basically meeting our kidswhere they are and trying to
bring them where we hope thatthey need to be.
And so we are actually at theBoys and Girls Club focusing on
how can we provide that sametraining to the caregivers of
our youth, because, again,that's great that we're trained,
(51:08):
but we also need to train ouradults as well.
So we're focused on that, andso that's exciting.
And sorry, can you remind me ofyour second one?
Speaker 1 (51:16):
I said just counseling.
Yeah, I don't know where thatfalls, in what pile that falls
into.
Maybe it's not a club thing,maybe it's through some other
organization or through theschools, whatever.
But I think about that becausemy church we brought in a pastor
(51:39):
about two years ago and one ofhis primary duties was
counseling and he's booked.
Yeah, and it's not just ifanybody that's listening.
I'm not saying everybody'sbooked with everybody in our
congregation, but I mean becauseit's not exclusive.
But I mean people just needthat help and if you have
(52:00):
someone that's good at that,they can work through some
issues and they're better off.
They're good, they're moving.
They can get on the right pathand they're moving straight
ahead.
Speaker 2 (52:12):
Yeah, I agree, we have great partnerships with
Meridian and Centerstone to comein and help counsel our club
members as they need to.
I think that's hard for us toown that because you have to
make sure that you have thecertifications and all of that,
but it's leaning into ourpartners who are the experts in
(52:34):
that realm and making sure thatthey know the club is a safe
place where they can do thatwith our youth.
So that's exciting.
And then for all of the youthworkers in the state of Indiana
that just rolled out in 2024,all of our youth workers and
anyone in our family has accessto free telehealth and then also
(52:54):
telecounseling.
And that's huge too, becausethere's a lot of firsthand
trauma that can go on whenyou're working with kids and
that can be hard to process andyou don't want to take that home
into your house and let itspill out there.
And so I'm very proud of thestate of Indiana and that was
through the Lilly Foundation toprovide that funding and that's
(53:16):
for five years that anyoneworking with youth has access to
that.
Speaker 1 (53:20):
That's great news, yeah.
Speaker 2 (53:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (53:23):
So we've covered a lot.
Again, thank you for coming intoday.
Is there anything else that youjust really feel compared, that
you would love to share aboutthe club right now?
Is there anything that wehaven't really covered that you
feel like I'd really like to saythat?
Speaker 2 (53:39):
Just that.
If you or you know someone whois in need of after school care
or care in the summer, pleasecall us at the Boys and Girls
Club.
It's such an opportunity forour youth to be able to really
have this palace at any of ourclubs that they get to walk into
and it's just filled with kidsfrom all different schools, all
(53:59):
different backgrounds,socioeconomic statuses and it's
a great place.
But also a huge thank you toyou for being such a tenured
board member and your leadershipon the board and Michael has
also done our Youth of the Yearselection process, which is a
huge honor for our club membersto be named as Youth of the Year
(54:20):
helped with our scholarshipcommittee and our golf outings.
So thank you so much forbelieving in the club.
Speaker 1 (54:25):
I love every minute of it.
After hearing from you today,I'm sure there's people that
might be interested insupporting the club,
volunteering, maybe even working, and help me out if I get this
wrong.
But if you go to bgcrichmanorg,it's boys, girls girls of the
(54:47):
club.
Richmondorg.
On the homepage there arevarious links to do all these
things.
Speaker 2 (54:52):
Yes, and it's real easy to find.
Speaker 1 (54:55):
So if you're interested and also if you're
interested in employmentopportunity, you can go to the
Get Involved tab right.
And you can find a link foremployment opportunities.
There's about three listedthere right now, so did I get
that right.
Speaker 2 (55:09):
Yeah, that was perfect, thank you.
Anything else to add to thatpart?
No, thank you.
Speaker 1 (55:13):
So thanks to you and your great team for the
difference you're making inWayne County, and the impact
you're making is much greaterthan you probably realize, and
so, whatever platform you'rewatching or listening to, please
help spread the word.
We want likes, we want shares,we want subscribers.
(55:35):
It just helps us get the wordout to more people.
So thank you so much, aliciafor joining us.
You're doing a great job and itwas great hearing about the club
and I'm sure that people aregoing to love to hear what
you've had to say today.
Speaker 2 (55:48):
Thank you so much.
Thank you, this was fun.
Speaker 1 (55:51):
Michael Allen from Manpower.
We are a national brand, yetlocally owned franchise.
We are familiar with thechallenges businesses face.
It's tough recruiting andretaining qualified employees.
That's why working withManpower is a smart,
cost-effective solution.
Our entire focus is talentacquisition.
We'll manage your hiring andtraining and provide ongoing,
customized support.
Since 1966, we have been yourcommunity-invested partner,
(56:14):
uniquely positioned to helpeliminate the hassles and save
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