THE Cambridge Connection - Episode 23

So I’m very excited to have her on with us today so we can talk about her journey, what she does for the club, and how important it is for the kids. All right, we’re going to take a short break, and right when we get back, we’re going to have our special guest, Jennifer Allworth, from the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs. This is Gordon Oliver with The Cambridge Connection. We’ll be right back. Hi, I’m Christopher Viale, President of Cambridge Credit Counseling.

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Welcoming Jennifer Aldworth

Welcome back, everyone. This is The Cambridge Connection. I’m your host, Gordon Oliver, here with my co-pilot, Tina Marie, and it is my honor to introduce our special guest, Jennifer Aldworth, the Executive Director from the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs. Welcome, Jen. How are you today?

I am fantastic. Thank you so much for inviting me today, Gordon. Welcome, Jen. It’s so nice to have you. Thank you.

Yeah, it’s a true honor. As you know, my sons both were Boys and Girls Club kids, and you were integral, and my oldest son, Trent, with his journey to be the runner-up youth of the year for Massachusetts. So I am so grateful to you and the Boys and Girls Club for what it has done for my children. And could you just take a minute and kind of speak about you and how you got to the role that you’re in and what you do? Sure.

I have worked as the Executive Director for two Boys and Girls Clubs in the state of Massachusetts and was lucky enough to land this role as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs just over four years last week. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. The Mass Alliance, you know, so I had the opportunity to be involved in the Mass Alliance as a member club, and so that’s given me some insight as I’ve taken on this role as Executive Director.

Club membership numbers and reach

So the Mass Alliance has been around for just over 22 years supporting clubs in the state of Massachusetts. That’s incredible. How many sites are there? How many clubs are there, actually, in the Alliance? So there’s 39 traditional Boys and Girls Clubs.

So the Alliance represents all 39 clubs, and these clubs provide programming at 67 sites across the state. The Massachusetts Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs was formulated over a couple decades ago to provide a mechanism for joint decision making and cooperative action among the clubs in Mass, you know, as we continue to seek to promote and strengthen relationships with the public and private stakeholders in order to increase support for our clubs. Wow, that’s truly incredible. I obviously have shared very quickly how important the Boys and Girls Club is to me and my family and my children. Can you speak to that a little bit about how this helps families and helps our children?

Well, you know, Boys and Girls Clubs are important for so many reasons, but, you know, when you look at what the need is in our state here in Massachusetts, we see over 200,000 kids leave school with nowhere to go. You know, they have the risk of being unsupervised, unguided, and unsafe. And our clubs serve over 175,000 youth, supervised by over 2,500 adult staff and over 10,000 volunteers. You know, we have most of our kiddos live in households where there are dual working parents. A third live in single-parent households.

The majority of our members are youth of color and qualify for free and reduced lunch. And at the Boys and Girls Clubs, you know, our motto is whatever it takes. You know, we provide the caring mentors, both staff and volunteers. We provide a safe place and innovative quality programs designed to empower youth to excel in school, lead healthy and productive lives. But obviously, it needs to be affordable.

And so access to clubs is affordable for all our youth, you know, making sure that we’re not excluding any individual, you know, from getting membership or participating. And so low cost of memberships, program fees, and also scholarships help clubs make sure that they’re accessible to everyone in the community. You know, one of the quickest ways probably to... org. On the Massachusetts Boys and Girls Club Alliance website, we have all of our clubs and their contact information by city and town, so it’s easy to see who’s in your area.

Club programs and funding sources

So obviously this show is about financial wellness and financial literacy, financial wisdom. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about the programs that the Boys and Girls Club offer for the kids? Absolutely. So clubs focus their programs in three priority outcome areas. So we have good character and citizenship, highlighting one of our programs, Youth of the Year that you spoke about earlier that you’re familiar with, with your son being the runner-up for our Youth of the Year program here in the state.

They also focus on health and wellness, so life skills programming, sports, recreation, and also academic success. So that’s your STEAM, your STEM, and also your money matters and your financial literacy skills. So those are the three kind of priority areas that clubs focus on. So Jen, how are the VMA Boys and Girls Clubs funded? What other funding do they receive and how do they get it?

Sure. I so appreciate that question because sometimes there’s a lot of misinformation on how clubs are funded, and one of the initial thoughts is heavy government funding. Only 10% of our income comes from government sources, and so clubs need to raise collectively in Massachusetts an average of $90 million annually to keep our current 67 sites afloat. And our main source of revenue is philanthropic fundraising, so supportive individuals, corporate partners, businesses in the community, and we’ve been so lucky to see that support across the state. Oh, that’s great.

Fundraising during the pandemic

And that’s how we, you know, can keep to our mission of being affordable for all is with that support. You know, I’ve seen firsthand so many people that work at the clubs are just doing such great work, and they’ve got to have, you know, that heart to be able to be around the kids being so active every day. And you know, we sometimes take a program or a unit like the Boys and Girls Club and really take for granted what they actually provide. So I’m sure, again, philanthropic fundraising, that’s not easy. It’s hard to raise money.

I know it firsthand. Well, and try it during a pandemic, right, Gordon? So it’s been very difficult during the past couple of years, in particular, you know, with fundraising, and we’ve seen, you know, revenue loss of millions of dollars from clubs. And part of that is, you know, one of the areas of fundraising is special events. And we know it’s been very difficult for us to, you know, get together in person and implement some of those types of special events.

You know, clubs are staffed by great people, very inventive and creative people. And so, you know, we’ve seen some transition to some online special events and some other ways of fundraising. But it’s been very, very difficult during these past couple of years, particularly. I could imagine that you must have to get pretty creative after going through a pandemic and not being able to actually have a physical fundraiser. And, you know, it’s interesting because creative on both sides, right, on the fundraising side and also on the programmatic side, you know, we saw clubs once we were shut down in the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, many clubs were able to, you know, reopen when the state allowed us to and kind of transition to online programming until they could do in person.

And I think, you know, it really speaks to the importance of kids connecting with those mentors and staff and the importance of parents feeling that their kids are receiving this high quality programming while they have to work, whether it’s working from home or going in the office, right? Parents still needed to work and kids still needed care, even if that care looked a little bit different. If you’re just joining us, this is The Cambridge Connection. I’m here with my co-pilot, Tina Marie, and our special guest, Jen Aldworth from the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs. She is the executive director.

Finding and supporting local clubs

And again, this is just an amazing conversation for recognition about what the great work is done for our kids at the Boys and Girls Club. And we were just talking about fundraising. Can you take this opportunity to tell people if they wanted to help by joining an event or joining a fundraising opportunity? Where can they find out that information? Sure.

You know, the best thing is to connect with your local Boys and Girls Club. And if you’re not sure who is in your area, please visit the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs at our website. org. org. And you can search for your local club via your city or town and get that information that way.

A personal success story

So, Jen, what we do here is we frequently share a Cambridge success story. But it would be interesting if you could, maybe you could provide us with an example of a club success story today. Oh, I’d love to. Thank you so much for asking. And let me just take a minute or two to share this story with you.

So, if you can imagine a young girl, let’s call her Ann, at age six or seven, she comes home one day to find that her father is no longer there. You know, Ann doesn’t care that he’s an alcoholic or a drug user. She just knows that her dad’s gone. All the while, her mom, Miriam, is working two jobs to make ends meet. Ann goes from babysitter to babysitter and easily sneaks with friends downtown and other safe areas in her city.

By age 10, Ann withdrew from others, was quiet, and introverted. One day, Miriam was approached by her friend Judy. This friend suggested that she take Ann to their local Boys and Girls Club. Knowing that there was an issue of money, even though the membership fee was only $10 for the year, Judy bought Ann a Boys and Girls Club membership card for her 10th birthday. Over the next three years, Ann came out of her shell and was involved in programs.

As a teenager, she volunteered at the club and later was given a part-time job to help make ends meet. All was well until about junior or senior year when everyone was talking about college. Ann’s parents didn’t graduate high school. Miriam couldn’t read, so Ann didn’t have any help with college applications. They had no money for school, and besides, Ann’s guidance counselor told her college was not an option for her.

Ann began to retreat. She was treated as she had done in her earlier years. Not knowing what else to do, her mom reached out to the Boys and Girls Club. It was a staff person at the club who helped Ann with college applications, even paying the fees, and gave her a tour of UConn where he received his degree. Well, Ann was accepted to UConn.

Staff visited her each semester, and they made sure Ann could still keep her part-time job during breaks and summer vacations. So fast forward, what happened to Ann? Well, she not only graduated from UConn, but went on to obtain her master’s degree from Clemson University, receiving a scholarship from Boys and Girls Clubs of America to assist with tuition. The club saved her life, and in return, she made the club her life’s work. Actually, Ann is my middle name.

That girl is me. I am so indebted to all of the opportunities that I was provided through clubs, and not just the programming aspect, but the financial aspect of being able to have a part-time job and help support the family and the opportunity to be introduced to the world of education and higher ed, which I would not have known about if it was not for the club. And so I didn’t want to share too much of my story in the beginning of my relationship with Boys and Girls Clubs because I wanted to share that story with you today. Well, that’s a very heartfelt story, and I thank you very much for sharing that. And it’s just fabulous knowing that you said six or seven coming home to what you didn’t know what you were going to come home to.

And at 10 years old, you were embraced with the Boys and Girls Club, and it stuck with you throughout your college years. So just to know that the future for these youths can be saved, and that story that you just gave us was very, very rewarding, and thank you for sharing that. Well, you know, and I am so grateful to be in the position I am today, you know, because it provides me with the opportunity to be just a small part of what clubs around the Commonwealth are doing to save and change the lives of over 175,000 youth annually. And, you know, we see young men like Trent, Gordon’s son, who is a former Youth of the Year, and a couple of other Youth of the Years, actually, that are in college that contacted me this week. And, you know, it’s just so exciting to see, to know their stories and see how their lives are taking off in such a positive direction.

And look at the influence it’s had on you. You’re giving back by doing the amazing work that you do, and not enough can be said about how it impacts our children. So it’s just truly amazing the work you do and the Boys and Girls Club. And, again, I can’t thank you enough for all the great work that you do. Well, Jennifer, I cannot thank you enough for joining us today and telling this great information about what the Boys and Girls Clubs do.

And before I let you go, can you please tell people where they can find the Boys and Girls Club again for us? Yes, please. org and support your local club. Well, really great having you today. Thank you so much, Jennifer.

Commercial break and club message

Have a great day. You too. All right. We’re going to take a quick commercial break, and we’ll be right back. This is Gordon Oliver with The Cambridge Connection.

Every day, over 200,000 Massachusetts kids leave school with nowhere to go. But that doesn’t have to be the story for every kid. At Boys and Girls Clubs across the Commonwealth, the Boys and Girls Clubs are providing a safe haven for youth, both after school and during the summer months, giving them the opportunity to achieve their true potential year-round. Help support your local Boys and Girls Club. Their doors are always open.

org, where great futures start. Welcome back, everyone. This is The Cambridge Connection. I’m your host, Gordon Oliver, here with my co-pilot, Tina Marie. Tina Marie, what a truly bombastic story that Jen gave us from her childhood to where she is now going to the Boys and Girls Club.

Recap and a counselor’s success story

It was. It was really nice hearing that. And just knowing that that success story was about her personally, that added a lot to what she had to say. It just gives great insight into how important an organization like that is to be able to take children that don’t have a place to go after school or need activity in today’s crazy world. They just continue to do this kind of work, and it really shows up.

And just hearing that story from when she was a child until now, that’s the kind of work they do. Yes. And, Gordon, if I could just kind of change the subject real quick. I don’t know if we have enough time, but I’d like to get this in. I’m really excited being a counselor at Cambridge Credit Counseling.

Is it OK if I share a success story of my own with you? Absolutely. OK, perfect, perfect. So I’d like to talk about Jeanette and Nico from Venice, California. They had owned their own restaurant business, and they were doing quite well prior to the pandemic.

Once the shutdown occurred, they obviously lost a lot of business, and the revenue was at a standstill. How they were able to keep their business afloat was to take out personal credit cards and personal loans, and they were barely making ends meet. Once the shutdown ended and they were able to finally reopen, let’s not dismiss the inflated cost of food and product, which we’re all feeling right now. So, of course, the restaurant industry is certainly hit by that. So with the inflated cost of food and product, they had to actually increase their overall prices to help make their ends meet, let alone even a profit.

So they found themselves in excess of about $25,000 in personal credit card use. Couldn’t keep up with the payments or the interest rates. Unfortunately, they were forced to make a quick decision and wanted to avoid bankruptcy somehow and still keep the business afloat with the large credit card payments to make. So after speaking with them, I was able to reduce their overall monthly payments from $1,200 down to $640 with interest rates as low as 4%. And by doing so, I was able to set them up on an approximate 50-month repayment term.

And I am happy to report I spoke with them recently. Their business is improving, and they hope not to ever have to use personal loans or credit cards again to offset expenses. But it just goes to show how this pandemic, it affected everyone in every way from going to the grocery store. I mean, I know you, you’ve got a family to feed. And as I do, you go to the grocery store, $60 doesn’t get you far.

So can you imagine what these poor restaurants are going through, where they have to increase due to inflation their prices, less people are going out to dinner. So it’s just nice to be able to help people on a day-to-day basis. And I just wanted to share that with you, something a little bit upbeat. So, Randy, to keep us all in the spirit of let’s keep going, right? Yeah.

People have to know that there are solutions out there, and we’ve been saying this in recent shows that the problems aren’t showing up until now. And now we’re seeing it everywhere. We’re seeing gas prices going up, we’re seeing the cost of living going up. I saw an article that said the average per household was about $286 in increased costs on the average. Per month.

Closing thoughts and sign off

So to hear success stories per month, so to hear success stories like this, if people are listening and they know family members or friends or even themselves are struggling with credit card and unsecured debt, there’s Helpful Solutions, 1-800-CAMBRIDGE is the place to call if you need to speak to a counselor. And this has been an enlightening show on so many levels, but taking care of our children is important and taking care of yourselves. It brings stress problems, which eventually affects relationships. So the work that we do on this show to make people aware that help is available in struggling financial times is just so important. And if I may, Gordon, I’d like to point out that our consultations are free consultations, certainly, just to see what there is out there.

We look into all your options. So I’m hoping that people will take this seriously and give us a call. We’re here. We have certified counselors that are here to help you. That’s awesome.

And thank you for sharing that success story. We’re at the end of our show once again, that 28 minutes flies by, doesn’t it, Tina Marie? It really does. But you know what? We get a lot of good information in and that’s what’s important.

Every show that we can celebrate our children and the good work that people do to help our children grow up in this world is just, I’m always a fan of having people on that really take care of our kids. And you’re right. 28 minutes does come and go, but it’s just nice being able to get some really rewarding information in in that time. And it builds. And again, like you said, as far as the children, they’re our future.

So it’s nice to know the Boys and Girls Club is out there and empowering them. Empowering. Best word. We use that word on this show all the time, not just about financial empowerment, but just being a citizen, learning how to be a giver in the community, all of that stuff is just truly amazing. Amazing.

So as I do every week, I’m going to leave everyone with a quote, progress is impossible without change. And those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. As we do every week, we’ve got some great experts on the horizon. m. here on WHMP.

com, click on podcasts and you can listen to any of our shows in the past or find our podcast anywhere that you listen to your favorite shows. We do truly want you to be part of this conversation. org. And if you’re struggling financially and you need help with your unsecured bills to speak to a counselor at Cambridge, feel free to call 1-800-CAMBRIDGE. Hey all, it’s Tina Marie and you might know me as Gordon Oliver’s co-pilot for The Cambridge Connection every Saturday morning.

What you might not know is that I’ve known Gordie for a really long time and as a certified credit counselor at Cambridge Credit Counseling for over 20 years, I am thrilled to join Gordie every week to share and chat about real people with real financial problems, along with many success stories both myself and all of the counselors at Cambridge Credit have been a part of. We know it takes a village of support and inspiration if someone is struggling financially, so it’s nice to know if that person is you, that you’re not alone out there. m. right here on WHMP for The Cambridge Connection because Gordie and I, we are here to help you have a better relationship with your money and hopefully make you smile. Right Gordie?

Couldn’t have said it better myself, Tina Marie.