Boys & Girls Club

Finding a Path in Life

Edward Bailey’s story is a unique one that started 11 years ago when the clubhouse first opened its doors at Dundee Avenue and Ann Street.

Edward’s mother is a single parent who was trying to raise five boys as well as a friend’s son with the help of the church, friends and family. When it was announced that the Boys & Girls Club of Elgin was coming to town and opening a clubhouse in her neighborhood, she saw help was in sight and sent her boys over to join.

At first, Edward and his brothers did not want to join the Boys & Girls Club. They were content hanging out on the streets with their friends and this was exactly what their mother wanted to avoid. She understood that the guns, gangs and drugs on their street didn’t make for a nurturing environment for her children. She knew they needed positive encouragement, supervision, and guidance if they were going to grow up to become good people.

Edward and his brothers quickly saw how much fun the clubhouse really was and took to the programming like ducks to water. Specifically, Edward liked playing pool as well as singing in the club choir. It was these activities that kept him coming back day after day. Edward can now see that coming to the clubhouse helped him in other areas of his life such as doing his homework and staying in school. He remembers his childhood friends who didn’t share his interest in the Boys & Girls Club and now tells stories about how many of them did poorly in school, dropped out, joined gangs, got involved with drugs and landed in jail.

In addition to making a positive difference in his life, the Boys & Girls Club also helped Edward find a path in life. It was from his Club experience that he discovered his passion for helping other people. Now married and still living a few miles away from the existing clubhouse, Edward works for the Boys & Girls Club because he wants to help the kids growing up in his neighborhood find a better path in this world. Knowing that the Club helped him stay in school and stay out of trouble, he believes that his employment at the Club is the best way to "give back" to his community.

When it comes to building a new 15,000 square foot clubhouse at the intersection of Dundee Avenue and Ann Street, Edward speaks passionately about the need for such a facility. Specifically, he is drawn to the fact that the existing clubhouse can only serve a certain number of kids every year based upon its size. He tells stories first hand about the hundreds of other children who he still sees hanging out on the street. There is little doubt in his mind that when the doors open in 2007 to a new clubhouse that membership will jump from the 551 served in 2004 to at least 750 immediately. While relying only on what he sees first-hand in his neighborhood, Edward is confident that membership at a new clubhouse can hit 900 children in the second year of operation and 1,200 children in the third year.

Edward’s experiences at the Boy’s & Girls Club of Elgin as a child prepared him for a lifetime of services to his community. A new clubhouse is more than just about serving more kids, it represents his desire to save lives and ensure no child is ever at-risk of being left behind. It is exactly for these same reasons that the Untied Way of Elgin supports the Club’s educational programming. Additionally, the United Way of Elgin understands what it takes to "build a community" and invests in programs that help them achieve those objectives.

We believe Edward’s success story is not just a Boys & Girls Club success story. In fact, we believe it is a United Way success story and that will pay dividends to the Elgin community for decades to come.
 
 

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