$5 million raised by Union League Boys & Girls Clubs will help students in the Englewood community

Tiara Gaines’ son Jamal loves gardening, a task he uses at Englewood STEM Secondary School and in his part-time job with Grow Greater Englewood, a food and land sovereignty nonprofit. When not doing this, the high school student participates in after-school athletic activities through Union League Boys & Girls Clubs (Union League BGC), a charter of Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Gaines, a mother of three, said she would recommend the club’s benefits to any parent.

“Englewood is a tough area to grow up in, but it’s also how you raise your kids,” she said. “I will definitely recommend the program as it keeps young boys, in particular, off the streets. When he got into this program, that’s when he started getting more opportunities…the Boys and Girls Club helped him with better opportunities.

Jamal Gaines, 18, is one of hundreds of Englewood STEM high school students to participate in the club, according to Antwione Allen, coordinator of the Englewood STEM Union League Boys & Girls Clubs site, ninth grade English teacher. Students participate in five extracurricular programs under the Englewood STEM umbrella – Power Hour (a study session before activities), Technology, STEM and Smart Girls or Passport to Manhood (separate groups for girls and boys that reinforce self-esteem and developmental needs centered on character, growth, relationships and community).

Gaines’ experience began when he was a junior. He said hanging out with his teammates, getting to know people and being able to have fun and be a kid is a big draw. As part of Englewood STEM’s first graduating class, Gaines said he’s still thinking about life plans after graduation, which could involve business, marketing and acting, but would definitely include sure the supervision of sports for young people in the community. He’s been coaching his 14-year-old brother basketball on his own for years and he loves it. Working with youth in the Englewood community is on the short and long term agenda.

“I always wanted to work for Englewood, do something for Englewood,” he said. “My goal is to do more for young black men. That’s why I want to do coaching with sixth, seventh or eighth graders, 12 to 13 years old.

The Union League BGC entered the Englewood community in 2015 with after-school programming at Stagg Elementary School. Within a year, there were talks of expanding to other school sites in the community. The Union League BGC launched a five-year capital campaign in 2017 to raise $5 million to serve more neighborhood youth, a goal achieved in December 2021.

The influx of money means that club sites at Englewood schools – including Nicholson STEM Academy, DS Wentworth Elementary and Englewood STEM High School – will be maintained and could grow into other clubs in the area, said Marina Del Cid, Director of Marketing and Special Events for Union League Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs.

“Even though we’ve finished this campaign, we still have to keep raising (funds),” Del Cid said. “When we first came to Englewood, Mary Ann Mahon-Huels, our president and CEO, was telling us that the police chief and the fire chief were saying, ‘If you’re going to walk into this neighborhood, you better make sure you do what you say you’re going to do,” and that’s what we’ve done and we want to continue to be able to do that. We want to be in every community if we could.

More than 2,000 young people are served in Englewood with after-school and summer programs.

“The Union League Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs have been our partners for five years,” said Englewood STEM manager Conrad Timbers-Ausar. “We worked intimately together on the (programming) plan so that it would be integrated into our curriculum…so we don’t see the Union League Boys and Girls Clubs as a separate entity housed at Englewood STEM. Union League Boys and Girls Clubs is part of Englewood STEM. Trying to explain the impact they have is really difficult…because their impact is on our 800 students despite the fact that there are maybe 200 students who are technically on the list (participants). We need to put our focus on more students like Jamal because Jamal outshines a lot of his peers, but he is part of an amazing group of young people.

Allen said programming such as robotics, anime, esports, and tutoring has resulted in more students wanting to participate. Jamara Hal, director of Union League Boys & Girls Clubs in Englewood, said money raised through the campaign will also help with food insecurity, transportation to events and experiences, and behavior management. social and emotional young people.

“We have set up an emotional social corner in our schools, which I’m starting for each site,” Hal said. “If the children have disruption in class and are asked to leave, they can come to our corner and unpack that emotion for an hour. We can help them with that and they can go back to their class. As mentors , we don’t tell them, we listen. Let them pour out their emotions on us, and then do what we can to help accomplish whatever they’re going through, by just being there for them.

Gaines said his younger brother was his motivation; being around him, teaching him how to do things and telling him right from wrong has made Gaines want to do the same for the young people in his community – so much so that he isn’t considering severing ties with Englewood .

“Until the job is done here, that’s when I’ll think about leaving,” he said. “Englewood needs some kind of support, especially for young black men and the black community, so until things are done here I want to work for Englewood.”

Hal and the other adults in Gaines’ life praise him for his actions.

“As we always say in Englewood, ‘Don’t do anything for us without us,'” Hal said.

drockett@chicagotribune.com