• HOW TO GET HELP: Community Resource Guide
Crystal Allen, president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Dayton, said that while COVID did harm kids’ mental health, many issues were already present in kids’ lives. COVID just exacerbated those issues.
“I think COVID just opened up what already existed,” Allen said. “Living in poverty is traumatic. The violence our young people are exposed to and a lack of resources. There are young people in our program and in our community who have been impacted by generations of hopelessness … We are just seeing the manifestation of those things we’ve known existed, but we just couldn’t allocate resources or things were simply ignored.”
Allen said at the club they have four “buckets” that they try to address through different programs. The first bucket they try to focus on is health and well-being. Without this, kids won’t be able to learn, lead or get ready for the workforce. They provide daily meals, snacks, mental and behavioral health support, social-emotional learning groups, physical fitness and more.
“We start with health and well-being because a lot of times, we try to focus on academics,” Allen said. “But it’s hard for young people who are hungry, impossible really, or those who don’t get a good night’s sleep to learn.”
One recent addition to the staff is a full-time licensed social worker who Allen described as a “game changer.” E-zra Poole, who has a bachelor’s of science in social work, works with the students but also with the staff. She provided trauma training for the staff and facilitates nurture groups and conflict resolution with the kids.
“One things we have done throughout the club are concepts of zones of regulation,” Poole said. “We’ve been teaching them how to identify their feelings, figure out what zone they are in and then how to express them and how to regulate them.”
Another concept they teach is about finding a safe person to whom they can express how they are feeling. Poole said that they also work with the kids’ caregivers because it is important that when they go home, the kids continue their training.
“Their caregivers are their experts,” Poole said. “That was one of the biggest things I wanted to do when I first started was building relationships. We offer some of the same trainings to the parents [caregivers] if they want to gain knowledge. We have post-caregiver meetings where we have a roundtable. Some of the parents even say they are struggling too.”
One specific group Poole facilitates is SMART Girls. SMART Girls is a small-group health, fitness, prevention/education and self-esteem enhancement program designed to meet the developmental needs of girls in three age groups, spanning ages 8 to 18. Poole said she has seen not just girls, but all youth affected by social media.
She has seen the impact of youth wanting to be liked and the arguing or bullying that can happen online.
“I teach about healthy relationships, self-esteem, goals, healthy living and self-care,” Poole said. “We’re empowering them to know that it’s OK, and teaching them those social skills to calm down. Being mindful of how you treat yourself and express yourself, so we want to teach them a healthy way to do this.”
Other things the organization focuses on are academic recovery and success, life and workforce readiness, and character and leadership. Allen said that these other areas also connect to positive mental health by making kids feel safe and giving them confidence. They try to provide a pathway for their students to be want they want to be after high school. Many of their members perform 45 minutes a week of some sort of service project.
“Dayton is a great place to work,” Allen said. “Our young people are empowered to love their community and be part of the revitalization of their community. That helps them understand they deserve a safe community.”
Allen saidthey have seen many successes at the club when it comes to kids’ mental health. Allen said many of the caregivers express that they see a change in their kids and that they are utilizing the techniques being taught to them. Allen also said a big key to helping with kids’ mental health is to normalize talking about it.
“It’s still taboo in many places to talk about mental health challenges,” Allen said. “We are empowering our young people to feel their feels. We want to create a space for young people to fail. We have not done a good job of that as a society. With all the things happening on social media, your hair has to be a certain way or you have to be a certain size. It’s stressing them out.”
While these are just a few things the club is doing to help Dayton’s youth, there are many other areas and programs that the club offers. If any young person wants to be part of the club, they need to fill out an application online, and Allen said they will help where they can.
The club is currently looking into building a new facility in the future. They are still finalizing plans for what that will include, but Allen said they want a cutting-edge facility that will offer kids the facility the youth deserve. They hope to include a space for kids to learn more about workforce development and learn skills related to aviation, robotics and much more.
How to participate
Anyone wanting to help the club, can go to their website or volunteer. The website is www.bgcdayton.org. The Boys and Girls Club of Dayton is located at 1828 W. Stewart St. in Dayton.
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