'The Hub' with Michael Allen sponsored by Manpower Richmond
Welcome to "The Hub with Michael Allen," the podcast that dives deep into the stories of community leaders and business owners who are making a difference. Join your host, Michael Allen, as he uncovers the untold narratives, challenges, and triumphs of those shaping their communities.
In each episode, Michael sits down with remarkable individuals who have dedicated their lives to improving their neighborhoods, towns, and cities. These community leaders are passionate, driven, and committed to creating positive change. Whether they are activists, educators, philanthropists, or civic officials, they all share a common goal: to build stronger, more vibrant communities.
"The Hub" also showcases the journeys of business owners who have turned their dreams into reality. From small-scale startups to well-established enterprises, these entrepreneurs share their insights, experiences, and lessons learned along the way. Michael delves into the unique challenges they face, the strategies they employ, and the impact their businesses have on the local economy and society at large.
With engaging conversations and thought-provoking discussions, "The Hub with Michael Allen" provides listeners with valuable takeaways, inspiration, and actionable ideas. Each episode offers a glimpse into the minds and hearts of those who are actively shaping the fabric of their communities, providing a roadmap for listeners who want to make a difference in their own lives and surroundings.
Tune in to "The Hub with Michael Allen" and join the conversation as we explore the stories of community leaders and business owners who are leaving an indelible mark on the world around them. Get ready to be inspired, motivated, and empowered to take action. Together, we can create a better tomorrow for everyone.
Sponsored by Manpower Richmond.
'The Hub' with Michael Allen sponsored by Manpower Richmond
Ep. 10 | Alicia Painter: Cultivating Hope and Leadership at the Boys and Girls Club of Wayne County
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.
Michael Allen from Manpower. We are a national brand, yet locally owned franchise. We are familiar with the challenges businesses face. It's tough recruiting and retaining qualified employees. That's why working with Manpower is a smart, cost-effective solution. Our entire focus is talent acquisition. We'll manage your hiring and training and provide ongoing, customized support. Since 1966, we have been your community-invested partner, uniquely positioned to help eliminate the hassles and save you time and money. Let us help contact Manpower today. Hello and welcome to the Hub powered 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 special guests, and our mission here is to share and spotlight unique and untold stories of companies, organizations and people who are making a difference in our community. So today's guest on the Hub is Alicia Painter, the chief executive officer of the Boys and Girls Club of Wayne County, and she's definitely an awesome person and she's leading an awesome organization. So welcome to the Hub.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us and we've known each other for several years now with our connection with the club and as a board member and you and your various roles in the club, and I gotta tell you I've really enjoyed working with you more since you become the chief executive officer and I'm so happy that you agreed to join us.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you so much. It's a pleasure working with you.
Speaker 1:So I'm really anxious to adjourn to chronicle your journey with the Boys and Girls Clubs. 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:Yeah, so I grew up in Westchester, Ohio, so I went to Lakota School District and then my sophomore year of high school I moved out tomorrow, Ohio, which is a very small area, graduated from Little Miami High School and I knew that I wanted to play volleyball in college. So I was fortunate enough to come to Erlum College to play volleyball, which was very exciting and that really created the most important chapter of my life, which is finding Richmond and really putting our roots into this community. So, with going to Erlum and playing volleyball at Erlum, I was also a Bonner scholar, which is what introduced me to the Boys and Girls Club. I also met my husband my freshman year of college, his sophomore year, and we've been together ever since. We started our family here and we have three kids who are everyday Boys and Girls Club members. We have Grayson, who's 10, and Eleanor and Harper, who are twins who are eight years old.
Speaker 1:So how did it come about that Erlum ended up being where you chose to come?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was. The liberal arts college experience was really exciting to me. I also really fell in love with this community from you know the visits. I was looking at a lot of different colleges, but between what education I would be able to get as well as playing volleyball. That's really what helped me choose Erlum.
Speaker 1:So just explain for us just a little bit what does it mean to be a Bonner scholar?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So a Bonner scholar, you have the ability you receive financial funding to be able to volunteer in inside of the community, and so my freshman year I actually had, you know, the ability to be a work study student. So I was on campus, but as a Bonner scholar they really want to push you out into the community and focus on volunteering. So that just really opened the door to experiencing what Richmond had to offer, and I'm so fortunate for that.
Speaker 1:So what was your major area study?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I graduated. My major was psychology and then a minor in education.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So did you think that you would eventually end up working in an organization like the Boys and Girls Club? Was that kind of on your radar?
Speaker 2:It wasn't, it wasn't at all. So I always knew I wanted to do something with kids. That's my passion. I love teaching, those light bulb moments that happen. So I just always assumed I would be a teacher, and I am so lucky that I walked into the Boys and Girls Club doors, because I didn't have a Boys and Girls Club where I grew up. And so just seeing all of these kids, hundreds of kids, after school and being able to decide how you want to work with them, you know, do you want to and that's what I did Coach volleyball with them down in the gym, or do soccer or cooking class in the kitchen, that just really opened my eyes to okay, this could be, this could be our career path. And so and I think that's what's really important about volunteering is it just exposes you to so many different opportunities that you might not have otherwise, and so I'm really, I'm really fortunate for how it played out.
Speaker 1:Well, I want to go through how your you know your career went through with the Boys and Girls Club, but we have this tradition that I do on this 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: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 front counter, and I loved it. I loved it and I loved it because it really you know, sports teaches you so much about discipline and work ethic, but working fast food does the exact same thing. Right, those are very hard, challenging jobs and you're on your feet, and what I learned from that experience was either be busy, look busy or you're going home, and I think that's so important to learn at a young age. So, yeah, it was one of my favorite jobs working there.
Speaker 1:Well, I had a similar experience. You know doing fast food. You know like you, and sometimes we hear a little bit of negativity about working at not specifically McDonald's but fast food or whatever, but I think that's a wonderful training ground for people to experience learning on the job and being introduced into the working world. Yeah, and I think you could probably go through a lot of people who have had successful, who have had success in their life, in their career, like yourself, and a lot of them did things like work at McDonald's.
Speaker 1:Yeah so so I think we need to, you know, really encourage that with our youth to step out and have employment experiences like that, yeah, because I think they're very invaluable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they are, and it just it reminds you to have so much respect. I mean, those jobs they're hard and we need them and so that exposure and we, you know, we're really focused on workforce readiness, life and workforce readiness at the Boys and Girls Club and that's a path that I truly, I personally believe every young person should have an experience in the fast food world.
Speaker 1:So with the Boys and Girls Club? Yeah, your first experience was a volunteer, so you weren't getting paid, right, you're volunteering, so what was your? What did you just start out doing? Was it volleyball?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so Ryan Wheeler he is actually. He worked for our organization in Wayne County and he's actually now a CEO down in Seymour, indiana, so he encouraged me to come in and do volleyball. And then, of course, that's a passion that I have, and so how neat is that when you can align your passion of working with kids and a passion for a sport that you have. So then that quickly became into 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 and it just yeah, it just went from there.
Speaker 1:So at one, at one point, you decided you were going to apply for a position. Yeah, so tell us a little bit about what that was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I also. One summer, when I was a student at Erlum, I volunteered for the summer as a Bonner scholar down at our camp guy. So we have a 168 acre camp down in Connorsville and that really solidified that. The Boys and Girls Club is where my heart is, and being able to take, you know, a busload of kids down there who have never seen a river before they've net, they don't even know what a creek walk is, even though it's kind of self-explanatory, but being able to do that for an entire summer, it was just incredible.
Speaker 2:So the only opening that was available at the club when I graduated from Erlum in 2011 was to be the camp director. So it was an hourly position and it it was one of those moments of okay, you just graduated from college, as this is this, your next step, and I'm so grateful that it was my next step. So I ended up getting that position, and it was just for the summer. We didn't know what would happen after that. So I had an incredible supervisor, larry Stone at the time, who just taught me so much, and so, yeah, so that that was my first paid position at the club.
Speaker 1:So did you transition from that job, which was just for the summer, to another position within the club? I mean, did you ever work anywhere else in between?
Speaker 2:No, no, this has been my only adult career path, which I'm so fortunate to be able to say that. So after camp, luckily enough, a program director position became available at our Jeffers unit on the south side of Richmond. So I started in that and then worked my way up. They finally gave me the title unit director, so that was exciting.
Speaker 1:And that was at Jeffers yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was at Jeffers and it was just so rewarding. It was so rewarding. You know every, every position or promotion that you have when you're working with kids. You kind of move up and you're not working as directly with kids, but I really found this new passion of working with our adults at the club and being able to, you know, provide more training and professional development opportunities for our staff to be able to impact our youth on an even greater scale.
Speaker 1:So so did. You were a unit director for a while. Yeah, how long were you in that?
Speaker 2:role I would. I was a unit director and then also senior unit director for probably six years. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then I think then it transitioned to Bruce Daggy saying he was going to retire.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And there was a search committee put together right, yeah. And you applied for the position and was. Was that kind of nerve wracking to apply for that? And, like you know, because you've been there for all this time and now you're going for the top position and then if you didn't get it, I would think that would be a little bit of a oh, what do I do?
Speaker 2:now, yeah right, it was, it was. And you know Bruce, bruce was with our, our organization, for 28 years and Bruce did so much for our organization to take us, you know, from serving kids at one location to serving youth at five different locations across the county. And so those were and I heard it all the time really big shoes to fill, and so it was. But I knew that I had enough trust and faith in the selection and the search process that if I didn't get it, that's okay. I mean, that means somebody else was more qualified and I would happily work along with them to do what our youth need us to do.
Speaker 1:So well everything any contact I've had with you through the years. Your statement there, I think that's a really genuine statement that speaks to your character, I think you would have done that, but I'm happy, you know, for you getting the position. I think you're doing a wonderful job here, heading into, like your second year or finishing two years in the role.
Speaker 1:And so how was it? You mentioned a little bit about it, but it had to be a little daunting. You have some, a person that was in the position for so long, and was it? Was there any kind of? Did it feel kind of bumpy early on, or did it it just kind of work out, I mean?
Speaker 2:it really it flowed. Our, our organization is so strong and it starts with a strong board of directors and we are so fortunate and you're you're an incredible member of that team to have a 40 person board of directors and that really creates our foundation and provides organizational strength. We also have a board of trustees who help oversee our endowment, and that's just incredible, incredible individuals to tap into for what we need. And then our team at the club. You know we transitioned with Bruce's retirement from an executive director to going into a CEO, a CFO and a COO. So having Jennifer Feister as our CFO, having Sydney Lieberman as our COO, I mean we we're such a strong team and it's it's so nice to know when to lean into each other to provide that support that we might not be the expert in, but we know who the expert is and we can, you know, get their advice on that.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, it definitely seems to work well with an organization, at least from my perspective and what I see, and it's just a different chapter for the club. I mean, it was time for Bruce to step aside when he wanted to and and now you're just creating a whole new chapter for the club and and doing a terrific job.
Speaker 2:Thank you?
Speaker 1:How is it having your kids at the club?
Speaker 2:Because I mean there's good days and bad days.
Speaker 1:I mean, are they there, Like? Have they been there like all the time since they were old enough to be there?
Speaker 2:Their best birthday present when they turned six years old was their Boys and Girls Club card. Like they could not wait to be Boys and Girls Club members. It's, it's amazing. It is so rewarding to have your own kids and their highlight reel every day is at the club. I got to do healthy habits and we made this snack at the club. I got to have one-on-one help with one of our tutors, allison, at the Jeffers unit. Like it is so amazing to hear firsthand from your own kids how beneficial it is to be a Boys and Girls Club member. So I wouldn't change it for the world. I love that my office is. Just happens to be I didn't pull any strings to make this happen Just happens to be the same clubs that they go to, and it's just, it is incredible, it is.
Speaker 1:So it's never like they don't want to go.
Speaker 2: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 on spring break and fall break and holiday break, so, and in the summer and so it's always, you know, we'll we'll have family members. We don't have family that lives here in Richmond's. We'll have family who say, well, I'm going to come up on Friday to pick them up and it's like, well, you better not come until five o'clock because that's their club time. So it uh, yeah, every day they love coming to the salsa.
Speaker 1:What a interesting story it would be if one of your kids pursues a career in the boys and girls. And to think, I mean, that would be just an incredible story, that well, ever since I was old enough to go to the club, it's been in my life.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That way.
Speaker 2:I'm sure that's I don't know if you've ever thought about that, but that would be pretty amazing. Yeah, and I have thought about that only because, if you ask any of them right now, they either want to work in the games room when they graduate or they one of them wants to be our next CEO. So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1:That's just wonderful and you're just bringing in another generation of individuals that are learning to care for the needs of other people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I think that's.
Speaker 1:That's a great experience for them. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Thank you for saying that, and and that's what all of our boys and girls clubs, boys and girls club members we try to teach them Like if you have enough to give, then give it. And that might be your time, that might be. You have five sheets of paper and one kid doesn't have any, so you're sharing with them. But we really try to instill in our boys and girls club members the the need to give to others or the need to give back to our community, because our community here in Wayne County gives so much to us at the boys and girls club.
Speaker 1:Yes, so the we'll get into a little bit more of the nitty gritty about the club. So type this up here so I remember it well. So our mission is to inspire and and enable all young people, especially those who need us the most to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. So when we look at like last year 2023, you've got to feel pretty good about the direction the club is headed.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely, and our, our favorite words and that entire mission statement are those who need us the most. That's what we're here for and and I think sometimes when we hear those words, we think about socioeconomic status, we think about those, you know, who just financially need some more support. But it doesn't stop there. Those who need us the most could be because both their adults work full-time jobs and they don't get off until five, 30 or six o'clock at night and the 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 always think back to are we serving those who need us the most? And whatever we're we're trying to do next, is it serving those who need us the most?
Speaker 1:I wrote down a couple of things here. We we have 1,961 club members I'm sure that number always is fluctuating and then there was an additional almost 3,000 that were reached through community outreach. Yes, say it. So what is that I mean?
Speaker 2:what does?
Speaker 1:that look like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so about 2,000 of that number are serving youth during the school day. So we actually have trained staff who go in and run prevention programming in all five of our county school districts. We also have teachers who have been trained on our programming to also facilitate that curriculum as well, and we're 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 where families will come in, and so all those numbers add up. We also do Easter egg hunt and just different community events. So that's where that number comes from.
Speaker 1:Then I would think that hopefully by exposing youth through some special events, whatever, then the hope would be that they might become club members.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah, that really helps.
Speaker 1:It's kind of a recruitment tool. Yeah it is Exposing them to that. Yeah, right now we're averaging about 524, 25 or so youth a day. Yeah, right, yeah. And our summer attendance is a little over 200. And I think this number is great. We have over 400 teen members. Yeah, our average there is around 50. I think we'd like to see that higher. We would. What are your thoughts about those numbers and where they're headed and where the club would like to see it go?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So we always want to be able to serve more youth. We want to make sure that we're knocking down every barrier that keeps a child from attending one of our boys and girls clubs or a teen from attending. So we're very focused on that. But we're also proud I mean to be able to serve.
Speaker 2:You know we shared at our most recent annual dinner, 27% of Richmond community school students are boys and girls club members. That's a number to be proud of. One in every four of our CS students are coming to the club. So we want we want to increase how many kids we're serving, but we also want to focus on our quality too. So it's that you know the struggle we all have with balancing quantity and quality. So we're really proud of our operations team. So we have 14 members of our on our operations team who ever see our clubs are every day operations with our youth, and so every Friday they're actually in one of our schools to help recruit and retain our members. So hey, I haven't seen you in a couple of days. You know you should come to the club. This Friday we're having a Valentine's Day dance, and so we want to grow that number while also making sure that we're growing our quality as well.
Speaker 1:You can tell me what you think about this, but I think you know we're. It's about bringing up the next generation within our community, helping them develop. It's also, I think, preserving hope for our community, especially those who can, who will continue to be part of our community, because we'll need them. You know the carry to torch, torch forward for us. That's part of, I think, what the club is doing is is, you know, making those, those investments for the future generation that will be around here or elsewhere, but also here.
Speaker 2: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 in that? And so I mentioned earlier about life and workforce readiness. It is our responsibility to expose our youth and our teenagers to different career paths that they might not have 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 typical police officer, teacher, doctor. You know that's what you would get.
Speaker 2:But especially through our win program or workforce workforce initiative network that you've helped with, we've been able to take our teenagers to manpower. We've been able to take them to a house, take them to read health and see all the different career paths that happen there, and so we also start that career exploration as early as six years old by having Jeff Loge, a veterinarian, come in and talk about what a day looks like in his role, in his position, and so I think that's that's really important too. Is that talking about hope, is that exposure to all the different possibilities that are out there?
Speaker 1:Right, the. We have programs and impacts and the club has three priority areas academic success, healthy lifestyles, good character, citizenship. There's so much going on in those areas. Can you tell us a little about these areas and how we're helping our youth achieve positive outcomes in these areas?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so academic success every day. When youth walk into our clubs, we actually have what we call open programming, so kids get to pick 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 a classroom. So if you have homework, you can get help from one of our our trained staff members to complete your homework. But you also have what we call power hour pages, and so you earn points inside of our classroom for doing power hour pages, which is work related to what grade you're in. You also get points for completing your homework.
Speaker 2:And so at the end of each month, because we have to be fun, you know we safety's first, but fun follows a very close second, and so when you get these points, at the end of every month we have what we call a power hour store, so our kids get a shop with all the points that they earned from getting their homework done or doing power hour pages. We also have one on one tutoring, and so we have licensed teachers who come in who are boys and girls club staff members and they work one on one with our kids who need that extra help. So we're very proud. We also have an Indiana kids program where kids focus on career exploration, their homework completion, but also volunteer service hours. So we're tracking that every youth a part of our Indiana kids program does 10 hours of volunteer work, and that could be inside of our clubs, that could be a field trip out in the community. A lot of the times it happens to be picking up trash, which is a good thing to teach our kids how to do. And so, yeah, academic success is very important to us and just partnering with our schools as well. We are a 21st century learning site, so we do. We're able to get feedback from our teachers of what youth who are club members who could need some use some extra help at the club.
Speaker 2:Healthy lifestyles is very important. We want our kids to participate in 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 healthy lifestyles, is that prevention programming, the healthy habits habits, that cooking class program, that's that they love, that there's like a waitlist for that program. So we're really proud of what we do with healthy lifestyles. And then my personal favorite is a good character and citizenship. So that's teaching our members to be those productive, responsible, caring members of society. And so you see that with our junior helpers program, where our 10 to 13 year old members will have to do so many hours of service inside of our clubs and they have time sheets and they have a weekly meeting, they get interviewed to be a junior helper, so it's preparing them for their next step in life. But you also see that with torch club and Keystone, which are leadership programs for our 10 and older members, so they're more active inside the community and volunteer at different events.
Speaker 1:So I've had a pretty decent interaction with the youth in those programs and you can tell the impact you've made with them just in the way they interact with you and the way they carry themselves. So it's definitely a program that's reaping benefits. I'm going to use our annual report here just to go over a few things. You know we had 219 club members participate in the 21st century. This number was me waited 4,658, one on one tutoring sessions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's incredible and those are one on one you and a licensed teacher going through what you need and the help that you need.
Speaker 1:I mean that's a lot of hours. I know that's a lot of sessions. I should say yeah they probably could be less or more than an hour, but I would. I mean, that's just got to be invaluable, those one on one time.
Speaker 2:And with that, too, is mentoring. Yeah, you're focused on that. You know that math that you need help on, but it's also you have a caring adult who is there to support you. So a lot of the times, you're focused on your academics, but you're also focused on life, and so that supportive relationship is very important kind of cherry picking here a little bit, but there we had almost 1400 students who participated in too good for drugs program. Yeah.
Speaker 1: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 alone our community but different communities, with drug abuse and anything that we can do to catch our kids early, hopefully we'll get them out of the, I guess, the lure that happens with in that area.
Speaker 2: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 just you 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 you navigate those conversations?
Speaker 1:In the good character and citizenship your favorite. Yeah, 98% of our our teens are on track to graduate high school. Pretty good. Yeah 80% are on track to pursue further education and 65% volunteer in the community.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Those are some numbers to be super proud of.
Speaker 2:Thank you. We have a great team. It can't none of this impact as possible without so many individuals making it happen facilities.
Speaker 1:We have a lot of facilities.
Speaker 2:And I don't know if everyone?
Speaker 1:I'm sure they do. But you know, let me just name them. We have the Jeffers unit on South Elstreet, we have the McDaniel unit on West Main, we have first bank unit North 12th and then the clubs, teen centers is on West Main and then we have the Hagerstown unit which is on North Sycamore in Hagerstown.
Speaker 1:We have the Wayne Bank unit which is on Queen Street in Pershing, and you mentioned earlier one of your early favorites is this camp guy in Connorsville and then excuse me my voice today we have the longest named facility, which is the West End Bank Charitable Foundation Professional Development and Training Center, and that is also at the Wayne the West Main Street location. So to our followers, I think that would sound like a lot for a community our size. How are they different? Is there any differences? How are they unique?
Speaker 2:Yeah, every one? A great question. Every unit is so different and it's so different because of the staff who are running and facilitating the program. So, unit director, who's overseeing the club, but also the kids who come there. And so you know, talking about our Richmond clubs, what I love about our Richmond clubs is that all of them, you know, we have North, south and West Side of Richmond, so we're hitting youth in those neighborhoods, which is so important in regards to accessibility. But they're all across the street or right next to our low income housing, and so we have a great partnership with the Richmond Housing Authority to where every youth who lives in one of those low income housing units gets a free Boys and Girls Club membership, paid for by the Housing Authority, and so that's incredible.
Speaker 2:And so when you go into the clubs the kids, they take so much ownership, one of the things we always say. So we have weekly gym meetings where all of our kids come together and we talk about the three Rs, the expectations of the club, respect the club, respect the staff, we respect each other. But then we always say and who owns this club? And we'll go, we'll go to Gary on this club. The kids will be like no, does Miss Sydney on this club? No, who owns this club? And they go, we do, and so that's so important to them to know that this is your club, and then you can tell them, you know, one day your kids will be able to and they're all like, ew, we're not having kids, but you're like.
Speaker 2:No, like, it's for the next generation as much as it's for you, and so we love that our youth were able to serve youth in those neighborhoods. Being able to serve youth out in Cambridge City, pershing, that has been an incredible experience to offer boys and girls club after school opportunity 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 at the seams out there, which is exciting. So we love that our adults have options. It's hopefully you know, having those different units makes transportation a little bit easier. Another thing for Richmond clubs if you don't have transportation home, we're gonna provide it for you. You know we really want to knock down all of those barriers and so, yes, it is a lot of upkeep to have all of those facilities, but it's also so rewarding to be able to serve our youth in the neighborhoods that they live in.
Speaker 1:Well, I just think it's amazing how things have come together over these few years to have, you know, the first bank unit at the Townsend site yeah, because I just think that's a wonderful location for our youth. Yeah, so many can connect to a site. Yeah, and then the one on the West Side is amazing too. I mean these things? They just all little by little unfolded and came out and I don't think you couldn't be any happy with the way the, at least within Richmond, the way the city is covered at this point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree completely. And it's not possible without places like First Bank, richmond, wayne Bank, the Ronald L McDaniel Foundation, without those places believing in us. You know, every we get calls of what 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 a Boys and Girls Club, because at $15 a year we never want to profit off of the youth and the families that we serve, and so that takes so much support from many businesses, including manpower, that that give to the Boys and Girls Club.
Speaker 1:You know the late, great Jeff Jeffers. I mean he set, I mean he set things up for people in the community, these different organizations you've mentioned to, to make these donations themselves. I mean because he was such a giving person and his family yeah, and so it was great to have a kind of a trend setter and giving like he yeah he was, you know, to help get the Jeffers unit. You know, with the great donations that he made yeah.
Speaker 1:And then so many people and organizations have just gotten lined behind him and made incredible donations to the club and to the foundation, and always.
Speaker 2: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 the seams at our at our unit at that time. And so to to vision having the Jeffers unit that at our peak, was serving 375 kids a day at that unit before we were able to expand out to other locations. I mean that was just incredible. And you're right, like he, he really spearheaded that and and got the momentum going to be able to expand even further.
Speaker 1:I'm sure it's a delicate balance. I mean we we want as many kids in the building as we can. At the same time, we want to be able to serve them well with us. You know child to staff ratios or whatever. So the other units have really done well to help us with that. I'm sure. Yeah and uh and we right now we have room for more kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, we do. And I would say, michael, from my 13 years at the boys and girls club, one of the hardest decisions we had to make was we had a waitlist for our Jeffers unit, and that was before we had first bank, where it is, and that was before our McDaniel unit. And that was hard. We don't ever want a waitlist for our youth and for our families, and so, however, where was our quality at when? You know, some days we had 400 kids in that building, and so, um, we're very, very fortunate to be able to have those additional locations, but, yes, there's room for growth within those, and so that's exciting too.
Speaker 1:Just you mentioned about staff. I mean we do have a great staff. I mean you mentioned, like the trustees, the board members, your executive leadership group, and then we have other employees like well, tell us a little bit how the kids you mentioned a little bit, but they can become, they can work within the club and make a little bit of money.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so we have. We. It's called our minors as employees program on a very flashy name, but we really want our club members, you know to to be productive members of society. So if that isn't getting a job at McDonald's or in a fast food place, come work at the club. And some of our minors as employee, I mean they are who our youth need. You know, they're 16 or older and they're there every day after school working with our youth.
Speaker 2:And then what's also neat is we have probably 10 of our staff members right now who were former boys and girls club kids, and those are the staff members who truly know how to meet the needs of our youth, because they were one of our youth, and so that's been really neat to see. And and the tenure of especially our leadership team. We have a very good group of individuals who have been internally promoted into the spots that they're in and believe in us, and tenure is everything when you're working with youth. You know we pride ourselves on the supportive relationships we have, and that starts with knowing a kid's name, knowing who their adult is, knowing what support looks like for them inside the club and outside of the club, and so we really have been these last two years have put a huge focus on the culture inside of our clubs and making sure that we're taking care of our people, our staff members, who are ultimately taking care of our people, our club members and we're really proud of that tenure and longevity of our staff.
Speaker 1:And we have a lot of volunteers.
Speaker 2:We do that come and help.
Speaker 1:You were one early on. Yeah so we have a pretty good relationship with Erlam and volunteers coming. Yeah, how many do we have on a regular basis? I would say Erlam students.
Speaker 2:We probably have about eight who kind of rotate out throughout the semester. But we also have great partnerships with Ivy Tech of Richmond and then also IUE. So we get emails very often in regards to hey, we have a student who needs 20 hours of service or 30 hours of service, and so again, I, I love when those volunteers come in for them because maybe we're exposing them to a career path they didn't know.
Speaker 2:But I also love it for club kids because they're cool. You know we're. I'm not that cool anymore, thank you. But you know, having those college students in I mean that's a big deal to our kids. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I I'm just amazed all the people just coming in the doors of staff and they're just so awesome.
Speaker 2:They are. Thank you, they're good people.
Speaker 1:So we need people, we need facilities, we also need money.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean, this is it's just a stark reality.
Speaker 1:I'm not good for operations, and I think I'm right and you correct me if I'm wrong, but I think our budget for 2024 is almost like 3 million.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, just over 3 million, yeah, so that's a lot of money.
Speaker 1:That is, can you share with our followers how we go about bringing in that much money for operations, cause it seems like it's a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, um, a good chunk of that is government funding, um, you know 40% is government. Um also grants we Paul Lauer is in charge of our grants and he is a rock star Um, and he does such a good job of knowing what programming our youth need and tying that into different funding opportunities. So a lot comes from government and grants, um, and then a lot comes from foundations and then another good chunk comes from our corporate sponsors. You know the businesses here locally that believe in us and believe in the work that we do. Um, and then another good chunk of that comes from individuals.
Speaker 2:It is it is so, um inspiring in this position to just see how many people believe in the work that we do. You know, and in my former um position working with operations, you felt the impact from working with the kids every day and that just fueled your heart. But being in this position to see how many people believe in the boys and girls club and the impact and the need that it fills in our community, it's just. It makes you just want to do more and more every single day.
Speaker 1: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 just sheets of of companies and people, organizations that give uh to the club, and it's like, I think, six seven pages in here.
Speaker 2:It's a small font size too.
Speaker 1:I had to get my reading glasses.
Speaker 2:I'm able to read them but.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's, that's such a great story. Yeah, one thing I think people would find amazing is that the membership for the club is 15 bucks. So if we have 2000 members, that generates about 30,000 dollars a year and some, and that's about 1% of our budget.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:So so why do we charge? Number one question is like why do we charge at all?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So we charge as as part of an investment to that adult that you know you have a piece of buy-in into our organization and so we also have a membership application. And then a couple of years ago we started we have to have a new parent or adult orientation for our club members because you know there's a lot the the boys and girls club. It's not a school and they, you know we have that open programming and so there's a lot of 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 have three kids and you don't have $45. And so at the end of the day, we will never like no questions asked.
Speaker 2:We will cover that $15 and that's that's available through Tyler Winfrey Memorial Scholarship Fund. So he was one of our club members that passed away a couple of years ago, which was a huge loss, and we wanted to keep his name relevant and so any teen who needs a scholarship can get it through his fund. And then also the action fund that was originated by Tim Scales at IU East and that actually I was talking to Tim Scales yesterday and that's at its 20th year and so that's so neat that you know if you can't afford $15, you know, maybe it's 750 or it's just free and that's okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I mean I like the idea of the buy in application process, but at the same time, like you said, we're not going to turn any kid away.
Speaker 2:No, no, so that we can't.
Speaker 1:We want them to be able to enjoy the benefits of what the club can offer to them.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Uh ahead, what would you say might be a challenge for the club moving forward? I mean, if there's anything on the horizon that you see. Not trying to be negative, I mean there's anything that we do. There's these things that come up that might fall on our radar.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think if a challenge and something that we're always concerned about is how are we staying relevant enough and current enough to meet the needs of the people who work for us? Because when you work with youth, you're really not working with youth to get this gigantic paycheck. And so making sure that we are staying current with what we're paying our people with taking and providing other opportunities to our staff members, because ultimately, it's our people that create our impact on the most important group of people. So just being aware of that and then also making sure that, as we're growing and we're filling up our current units, that we're still maintaining that quality of our programming that we take a lot of pride in.
Speaker 1:Well, I think that I mean no one really gets into the not for profit realm to get rich.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And but I think it's great that our local club is doing what they can to compensate people best they can with benefits and whatever to reward them for the job that they're doing, and so there's a balance there and but I think the club's doing the very best they can in that realm. Thank you, so what's kind of challenges? But what are you most encouraged about? Like looking ahead right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think what's most encouraging right now is just the momentum and the inspiration you get from so many people believing in one thing you know we have a very strong mission, a very important mission that we have to fill, and to know that there's a team of people standing right there beside you, along with you, is just exciting. And knowing that as part of our vision is to continue to address the needs of our young people and those needs are changing I mean, they've changed so much as we've navigated throughout the pandemic and knowing that we have the resources through our people, through different grant funded opportunities, to meet those needs is just it's encouraging.
Speaker 1:If you had to identify, maybe just one. If you have two, you can have me to say it. But I mean what do you think is a kind of a next level of service for the club? I mean something that maybe isn't happening now but you could see, I could really see that really benefiting our community with the club helping to drive that. Is there anything? Like that in your mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think two things. So the WEN program focus on workforce and life force readiness that started last year and so we want to grow that Like. We have great results that came out of that. We had 30, 16, ages that were impacted from that program and we need to do more. There's more than 30, 16s in our community who need that, and I'm really excited that we had the ability to hire a full time Larry Young teen and workforce development position and having that full time position to really be able to expand our team, so we're not just serving 50 teens a day, we're serving 75. So there's room there.
Speaker 2:And then the other position that we've put a lot of focus into is our director of social emotional learning, but really focusing that on health and wellness. Our young people have so many emotions that can be very challenging to regulate and manage, and so I think that's another opportunity that we can own at the Boys and Girls Club is when I'm having my rough day, when I'm having my hard moment, I don't do something with my actions. I take the time to write it out or speak to an adult who cares about me. So I think those are two needs that our young people really need and we're just expanding our resources at the Boys and Girls Club to be able to meet those.
Speaker 1:I was writing down some notes for our discussion today. Two things I wrote down was that when I talked about next level of service was what we might be able to do to support parents. And then also you kind of hit on it a little bit about counseling For kids that need a little extra to open that realm.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I'm so glad that you said that about caregivers, parents, the adults of our youth, because that's huge.
Speaker 2:We can do so much in the three to four hours that we have our kids after school, but if the adults that our kids are going home to aren't on the same page, you're just starting over the next day.
Speaker 2:And so I'm very proud of Sydney Lieberman, our COO, with her focus that she's had on making sure we have family nights, trying to get the adults of our club members into the club as volunteers so they understand the programming and what we're teaching. And there's also a really big push. It's called TVRI, so Trust Space Relational Intervention, and that has been huge. We trained all of our staff about a year ago on that and it's basically meeting our kids where they are and trying to bring them where we hope that they need to be. And so we are actually at the Boys and Girls Club focusing on how can we provide that same training to the caregivers of our youth, because, again, that's great that we're trained, but we also need to train our adults as well. So we're focused on that, and so that's exciting. And sorry, can you remind me of your second one?
Speaker 1:I said just counseling. Yeah, I don't know where that falls, in what pile that falls into. Maybe it's not a club thing, maybe it's through some other organization or through the schools, whatever. But I think about that because my church we brought in a pastor about two years ago and one of his primary duties was counseling and he's booked.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's not just if anybody that's listening. I'm not saying everybody's booked with everybody in our congregation, but I mean because it's not exclusive. But I mean people just need that help and if you have 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 path and they're moving straight ahead.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, we have great partnerships with Meridian and Centerstone to come in and help counsel our club members as they need to.
Speaker 2:I think that's hard for us to own that because you have to make sure that you have the certifications and all of that, but it's leaning into our partners who are the experts in that realm and making sure that they know the club is a safe place where they can do that with our youth. So that's exciting. And then for all of the youth workers in the state of Indiana that just rolled out in 2024, all of our youth workers and anyone in our family has access to free telehealth and then also telecounseling. And that's huge too, because there's a lot of firsthand trauma that can go on when you're working with kids and that can be hard to process and you don't want to take that home into your house and let it spill out there. And so I'm very proud of the state of Indiana and that was through the Lilly Foundation to provide that funding and that's for five years that anyone working with youth has access to that.
Speaker 1:That's great news, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So we've covered a lot. Again, thank you for coming in today. Is there anything else that you just really feel compared, that you would love to share about the club right now? Is there anything that we haven't really covered that you feel like I'd really like to say that?
Speaker 2:Just that. If you or you know someone who is in need of after school care or care in the summer, please call us at the Boys and Girls Club. It's such an opportunity for our youth to be able to really have this palace at any of our clubs that they get to walk into and it's just filled with kids from all different schools, all different backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses and it's a great place. But also a huge thank you to you for being such a tenured board member and your leadership on the board and Michael has also done our Youth of the Year selection process, which is a huge honor for our club members to be named as Youth of the Year helped with our scholarship committee and our golf outings. So thank you so much for believing in the club.
Speaker 1:I love every minute of it. After hearing from you today, I'm sure there's people that might be interested in supporting 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 club. Richmondorg. On the homepage there are various links to do all these things.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it's real easy to find.
Speaker 1:So if you're interested and also if you're interested in employment opportunity, you can go to the Get Involved tab right. And you can find a link for employment opportunities. There's about three listed there right now, so did I get that right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was perfect, thank you. Anything else to add to that part? No, thank you.
Speaker 1:So thanks to you and your great team for the difference you're making in Wayne County, and the impact you're making is much greater than you probably realize, and so, whatever platform you're watching or listening to, please help spread the word. We want likes, we want shares, we want subscribers. It just helps us get the word out to more people. So thank you so much, alicia for joining us.
Speaker 1:You're doing a great job and it was great hearing about the club and I'm sure that people are going to love to hear what you've had to say today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. Thank you, this was fun.
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