The best of both worlds...meet the
Rochelles
My name is Tinea Rochelle, and we live in Roxbury. The Boys & Girls Club …well, it works! It could not be more affordable or convenient. It’s become like family to us.
I’ve worked for John Hancock for 25 years. My husband owns his own business doing snow removal, manages some properties in the South End, and goes to school.
As a working mother, I am so grateful that I don’t have to worry if my children are safe, and I don’t have to make customized arrangements to get them home as their daily schedules change. They get on the bus at school, and are dropped off at the Club. Keleyia calls me to say “Mommy, I’m here.” That gives me peace of mind when I am at my job.
I grew up in Orchard Park. We had a small community center in the housing development, and that’s where I went after school. I was only in the Boys & Girls Club once when I was a child, and I really didn’t know much about it. It wasn’t until I had children of my own and needed a safe place for them to spend time when they weren’t in school, that I took a close look and saw all that they had to offer.
I originally connected with the Club because my son Malik, who is now 14, was accepted into the METCO program at age 7. He would spend his days at Wellesley Public Schools, but he needed to be in an after-school program where the school bus could drop him off.
I looked at other programs, including the Y, which I couldn’t afford as a single mother at the time. The Boys & Girls Club is right there in my neighborhood, and I was amazed at the variety of the programs and the quality of the staff.
Both of my children enjoy going to school in Wellesley. They have made friends and are doing well academically. But I am glad that they also have the Club in their lives. They have made great friends there, too, and have found activities that they enjoy. They are part of a community and connected to their roots. Most important, they are in a safe place with adults I trust. They truly have the ”best of both worlds.”
Keleyia wants to see it all, be it all. At 7, she’s a mini me. She is taking swimming classes, which are included in the low membership fee, and she hopes to make the swim team next year. She’s involved in the Girls' Group. What she’ll get from the Club is different from Malik.
Malik was able to go to Camp Harbor View in the summer of 2008, and he played Lacrosse and went kayaking…great opportunities that he wouldn’t have otherwise. Last summer, I know he would have liked to go back to Camp Harbor View, but he was old enough to apply for a job as a young leader at the Yawkey Club’s camp. He earned some money, and he got to work closely with Adam, the Club Social Worker, which I know he enjoyed. Once he’s 15, he can apply to be Junior Staff.
I keep Malik as busy as I can. He’s up at 5 AM. On the bus to school at 6 AM. Then right to the Club until he comes home at 8 PM. I tell him to call when he’s leaving the Club and to walk fast! I feel like I have to be on him all the time. I know he hates it, but that’s the way my mother raised me.
I worry about gangs, drugs and the streets. Most of the families in our neighborhood don’t even own their own homes, yet there are kids fighting over street corners they don’t own. Even if you do all the right things, you could come across someone trying to make a name for himself. You’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Malik is smart, and I hope I have given him all the proper tools. That’s why the Club is key. And if he takes another path — because I know he could be influenced — I want to be able to help. He is my responsibility.