Shelly: I am officially a volunteer but before that I would come in and try to be a helping hand. My kids have really evolved here. Everyone has interactions with my kids, so everyone knows them.

How has the Club impacted you?

Shelly: Whatever we need, they were able direct us to the right place. Or there on the spot to give us what we needed.

Kia: Great Resources.

Shelly: Great support, great people. It’s amazing. They help with Christmas when we didn’t have anything. They helped me through school like when I didn’t have anyone to watch the kids.

How did you get involved in the Club?

Shelly: I started the kids at Boys & Girls Club when I had to go through a drug treatment program. I wasn’t able to be successful in there because I couldn’t find childcare. So I came into the Boys and Girls Club broken. They’re very support, they help with the kids when I couldn’t do much, or they help to sit there and listen. Which was really good at the time when I was recently separated because it was really hard being a single mom. I just felt like my kids were safe and my children wouldn’t be bullied here. There was no judgement. I was going through a lot o stuff last year and they were…

Kia: They were very supportive of our family. It just seemed like they came with open arms to us and our kids coming here. Which is nice because you want to have that comfort when you’re leaving your child somewhere. Especially when you’re so used to watching them all the time 24/7. Putting them in someone else’s hands is kind of nerve wracking.