Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine helps kids in temporary living situations 

By Danielle Roslevich 

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine launched a new initiative on April 11, aimed at making life a little more enjoyable for children housed in two of the Portland and South Portland motels serving as emergency shelters. Many of the children are asylum seekers, and the majority of families have been living in single rooms in the motels for many months.  

Trying to alleviate some of the issues directly associated with the reality for newcomer families of living in a motel is behind the Clubs’ initiative. These include a lack of space for children to move around and little academic support for children attending school in a new country. 

The national Boys and Girls Clubs organization focuses on youth development of children from ages 6 to 18. Each “clubhouse” operates independently; Southern Maine clubhouses include ones in Portland, Riverton Park (Portland), Sagamore Village (Portland), South Portland, and Lewiston-Auburn. They offer school programs throughout the year for elementary, middle school, and high school students under four different pillars: academic success, health and wellness, art, and leadership. Several programs include activities that range from homework help and STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education to music class and physical activities. 

Always set up to provide low-barrier access, even greater access is an important component of the new initiative.Buses will take students directly from the hotels to the clubhouses in Portland and South Portland. Baba Ly, Senior Program Director for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine, and Lee Klarman, the South Portland Club Unit Director, spoke about the new initiative and the importance of this enhanced access. 

“Families can only have one room in the hotels, and when the kids come home from school, they have nowhere to go – they have been running through the hallways to get out their energy,” Ly said. The students receive little support for academics during these hours, he said, and stress levels are high for families trying to balance childcare with other tasks, such as immigration paperwork. 

“We have the clubhouses and the programs to provide a solution. We just needed to find a way to bring the students to the clubhouses,” said Klarman. Thanks to emergency funding from the John T. Gorman Foundation in Portland, charter buses transport the children and teenagers, serving a different hotel each day. 

The current funding, which will last through the end of the summer, covers bus transportation, additional programming staff, and food for 240 students. Ly, Klarman, and colleagues are working to extend the program into next school year, and the Boys and Girls Clubs have been working to contact the families to explain the program and help them enroll their children. 

“I got to meet some of the kids. Most of the families speak French, and I speak French,” Ly explained. “So I was able to connect with them. They are new to this country and unable to speak English, and it gave them some comfort to have someone speak their language.” 

To get the program expansion off the ground, the Boys and Girls Clubs have worked with partners that include Gateway Community Services, South Portland schools, and the City of Portland’s shelter coordinator. Ly said that the response from families has been positive; many are pleased to connect in their own language with others who truly understand their cultural backgrounds and the hardships they face as immigrants. The organization collects contact information for families via WhatsApp. Families can use this important tool to communicate using WiFi if they do not have cellular phone plans, and WhatsApp can automatically translate conversations. In addition, the Clubs have set up a language line for parents to call, and the clubhouses use Google Translate when needed. Klarman noted this as another great way to teach the participants English, which they need for school. 

Currently, the Portland clubhouse has staff who can speak French, Lingala, and Portuguese, and staff at the South Portland clubhouse speak Portuguese. After the first days of the program, Ly felt good about how it has been going.  

“It’s been a great beginning to the program! The parents are feeling relieved, the kids are excited, and the staff has been very welcoming. So far, so good!” 

But language barriers are real, and so are challenges resulting from cultural differences. Ly noted the need to provide culturally appropriate food for students, as well as the need for people to feel welcome and comfortable attending the programs. Trainings offered in April helped prepare the staff to provide services with cultural sensitivity and differences in mind, and those have been helpful.  

Urging compassion, Ly emphasized the importance of understanding that these families have come here to seek asylum. “Though they bring a lot of hope, they also carry great trauma throughout the journey. When these families are mistreated or treated with lack of dignity and respect, it builds on that trauma here.”  

Klarman encouraged those who are multi- or bilingual to apply for the current staff openings.. Clubhouses also welcome volunteers, and need people to help cook, especially in the Portland clubhouse’s industrial-sized kitchen. Volunteers also can help with special events, according to their schedule preferences, and in specific programs, such as guitar, gardening, nutrition, or photography classes, as well as with homework. Programs begin after school and typically run through 8 p.m. All schedules are listed at: www.bgcmaine.org  

To volunteer or for more information: (207) 874-1069 or [email protected].