TRANSCRIPT:
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Luis Hernandez: Nicole, thanks so much for the time. I appreciate it.
Nicole Dufresne: Thank you so much for having me.
Hernandez: Tell us about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence. What is its mission? Who does it serve exactly?
Dufresne: Sure. So our mission is to help our young people become productive citizens. And what that means is that we really work with children starting at the age of six, all the way up until they’re 18 to help them not only figure out who they are, who they want to be when they grow up, but also what is it that they’re good at and how do we put them on a path to get them to not only reach their educational goals, but what is that career pathway that they’re really looking for and help them with the hope and opportunity they need to lead a productive life.
Hernandez: The Wanskuck clubhouse has served the North End community for almost a century. Why is this renovation project, though, necessary right now?
Dufresne: So this is the first major renovation that we will be doing to that building in years. And if you walked through it with me today, you would see that the staff that work in the building really perform miracles using the space and being creative with what we currently have. You’d see happy kids. What you would also see is a building that is tired, that has been well used for, as you stated, almost a century, and really is in need of an uplift so that we not only can continue to use the space that we’re using, but also expand and use the entire building to its potential. We are also working to close out our $16 million goal. We are just over halfway there.
Heranndez: Can you give us a sense of what this work is going to do to help better serve those kids? What kind of things [will] we see that will allow them to have a better space to work in and to grow?
Dufresne: We are hearing from families that there is a need in the city for more high-quality child care slots for before and after school. We’re currently serving just under 100 kids in that building for child care. When the new building reopens, we will have 200 slots. That means we’ll be able to double our capacity in that site and help families so that they can go to work and be ensured that their children are safe. Then for the teenagers who are living in the city, what we’re hearing from them is that after school, they want to be able to enter our buildings. However, we have what I call is the best problem the Boys & Girls Club can have. We have run out of space. So again, once renovated, not only will the younger kids have space, but teens and tweens will also have their own space to come after school where they feel safe. They can explore careers, hang out with their friends, and know that their community truly cares about them.
Hernandez: I wondered, too, when we’re talking about focusing on things like tech to give the kids some of that, what kind of changes will we see there?
Dufresne: You’ll see a high-tech building. One of the spaces in the workforce development [area] is slated to be a high-tech computer center that is not traditional, that has classes in cybersecurity and coding and also has mobile tech, so that if a child or a teenager learns better, say, doing their homework in the gym, they can check out the tech and take it into the gym and do what they do. They can also check out technology from the building and take it home. Again, we are working on making sure that our young people understand what it is like to go to work. And when you go to work, you’re issued equipment, a laptop, a phone. We want to teach our kids to be responsible and help them understand that the world of work requires them to take care of equipment and use it in a variety of ways.
Hernandez: Can you describe really the importance, and you’ve kind of been touching on it — but I’m just wondering how you would describe the importance of this clubhouse to the North End community, what it means for them.
Dufresne: That building has been for many people and our alums tell us such wonderful stories about it being the hub for their family, where they hung out with their friends, where they learned about their first jobs. We have several alumni who say, “I received my first job because club director X told me about an opening.” We have architects who were sent on to RISD through connections through the club who were with us. So we want our young people today to continue on that trajectory that we know has been so important to the community. We also know that our partnerships with the school department and other community-based organizations really help make connections for our young people so that they know that they will be successful when they are adults.
Hernandez: You spent more than 30 years of your professional adult life with the Boys & Girls Clubs, including the past 15 as the CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence. But your history with the organization actually goes deeper than that. Can you tell us about your experience as a child with the Boys & Girls Clubs?
Dufresne: I first learned about the Boys & Girls Clubs when I was in middle school and I would walk there with my friends primarily to go swimming during the summers. Then when I was 16, there was an opportunity – a job opportunity – at the club. I applied for it and I started off answering the phones at the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket. And from there, I was really given the opportunity to work with great role models. Many of them are still my role models today. You know, the Boys & Girls Clubs really is a value based organization and those values include persistence and resilience. Those are two traits that I was able to really develop as I moved along in my career. I think without the Boys & Girls Club, it would have taken me a lot longer to figure that out. So the foundation of who I am, especially as a professional, was set by the Boys & Girls club.
Hernandez: I’m wondering, too — because you’ve had the chance to watch more than one generation — how kids have changed and how that changes your mission.
Dufresne: So I think the landscape of work has changed. I think the world has become more complex as children and teens have to navigate the world of technology, especially with social media. So I think our programs have changed to make sure that as they are trying and exploring new things, they also understand their decision-making really also has an effect on their lives. I also believe it is the responsibility of the adults in the community to share their experiences and really create a path for kids, no matter where they come from, to help them know that anything is possible. That is what the Boys & Girls Club does.
Hernandez: I’ve been speaking with Nicole Dufresne, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Providence. Nicole, continued success to you. Thanks so much for the time. I appreciate it.
Dufresne: Thank you.
