I hope you enjoyed my first published blog last week and relished the opportunity to learn something new about the many great initiatives taking place in my community. Last week I touched based on the use of the newly refurbished Boys and Girls Club for the Schenectady County COVID-19 Coalition. However, although this facility is being put to good use to help many low income residents right now, one thing should not be overlooked. The vision of this organization is to “Provide a world-class Club Experience that assures success is within reach of every young person who enters our doors, with all members on track to graduate from high school with a plan for the future, demonstrating good character and citizenship, and living a healthy lifestyle.” Many students in these environments use resources and programs like the Boys and Girls Club as ways to stay off the streets, having a place to go after school when their parents aren’t home, and sometimes even for a meal. Now that students are without these after school programs, what happens to these kids that are in these environments and not able to go anywhere else? What effect does this have on their mental health now that they are put back into these difficult at home situations? What resources are being used to continue to support these students regarding COVID-19?
Boys & Girls Club Hasn’t Forgotten About Their Youth
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Schenectady started about 14 years ago. Two months before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered New York state, Boys & Girls Clubs of Schenectady opened a 40,000-square-foot Clubhouse between two of the cities most distressed neighborhoods. More than 200 youth found a safe place at the Adeline Wright Graham Clubhouse prior to government orders to stay home from schools. During this difficult time, the Boys & Girls Club has managed to serve as a hub for the Schenectady County COVID-19 Coalition. However, another initiative is being taken in the city of Schenectady for many of the young students in their program.
Since March 23, grab and go dinners have become available for young people with pick-up being between the hours of 4:30-5:30 Monday-Friday. The pick-up has been in front of the new Adeline Wright Graham Boys & Girls Club. Kristen Kucij serves as the unit director of two Club sites in public housing that served about 75 youth each day. They now make meals for about 300 people each and every day. “There are a lot of things we cannot control during this pandemic but we can take care of our own people,” Kristen said. When looking at this from a mental health standpoint, it is very important for these young students to see that the place they used to go for recreation and after school help has not abandoned them and is still taking a role in making an impact in their lives. If you are interested, please contact BGCS at 518-374-4714 or 518-355-7440 to provide a meal count.
Schenectady City School District Playing A Role Beyond The Classroom
The transition from in person classes to online classes has been a major role in continuing the education of many students across the country. However aside from education, one of the biggest reasons that low income students attend school is unfortunately for the access of meals throughout the school day. What happens now that students are at home? What happens to these meals that many students rely on? As of April 13, the Schenectady City School District has partnered up with the Brown Bus Company for meal deliveries all over the city. Meal deliveries have been taking place at each of the bus stops that many students used to go to school just a few months ago. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, students receive two days’ worth of meals. The bus routes and schedules can be found here. In addition, student breakfast and lunch can be picked up from any school. Pick up from any school is between 11am and 12:45pm. All of this information is readily available on the home page of the Schenectady City School District, a site that is frequently visited by parents. This is very convenient for those who do not live close to the Boys & Girls Club or may not feel comfortable going to seek aid from a program they were originally not a part of. As great as it is to help these students with access to a meal, sometimes just a mental note of reassurance is needed to keep them going.
Reassurance Bringing a Community Together
A group of teachers at Schenectady High School have shown that even small messages can have a big difference on young and impressionable students. My former 12th grade IB-English teacher, Colleen Wygal, has started something called “Walk Poetry”. The idea behind it is to spread positivity through walk poetry. Just by using chalk, students can write a variety of messages, quotes, personal sayings, and even drawings.
Poetry is seen as a feeling of accessibility so this allows people to feel alive and connected with the goal of taking a part in spreading joy and hope that both the chalk writer and those who walk by feel the impact. This has given many teenagers a voice of power and hope with this ability to have someone see what you created and react to it. It is incredible to see how we can keep kids engaged and not so isolated by using the arts to join us together.
Another way kids have been kept in mind is through the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. This program is a federal initiative established by former President Barack Obama with a focus on low income men of color and getting them to graduate high school and go to college. As a founder of this program and a mentor for more than 2 years, I have been part of a private partnership that brings 30 Schenectady school district students to Union College for mentoring, recreation, tutoring, and socratic discussion. Prior to COVID-19 we would meet every Tuesday and Thursday for 3 hours at a time. With the transition of no longer having in person interactions, we have been doing weekly online check ins to make sure everyone is doing well. These kids that we see as “little brothers” know for sure that they have not been forgotten. I’m proud that I am able to take a small role in aiding some of my communities’ most in need populations. It is even more of an honor to be a part of a community that is taking so many strides to help one another during these trying times.
This is an awesome post, Stevie! The past month, it has been so easy to get lost in the negative headlines. Your blog post reminded me that even during the pandemic, communities have come together to start initiatives and spread positivity. Throughout my four years at Union, I’ve learned that Schenectady is a city of service and overall resilience. Even during this hardship, residents are putting in time to made sure that the children in the community have full stomachs and are still enriched educationally.
I think the local school districts’ response to the pandemic has been really helpful for a lot of students and families. The fact that a lot of students rely on school for meals is unfortunate and something that goes unnoticed a lot of the time. The elementary schools in my community are doing something similar as well!
I think it is so awesome that the school district has paired with a bis company to be able to delivery 2 days worth of meals to the students during this pandemic! My school district is also doing something similar to make sure that during this pandemic children that rely on the food served at school are still able to get that resource.
I love that you brought up school as a resource for things other than education for many students. It is so great to hear that there are ways for kids to still get meals even though they don’t have the structure of school to provide it like normal. The fact that they are also delivering the food is important because that overcomes transportation as a barrier to access.