In The News

Monday, May 24, 2010 - 21:30

Boys and Girls Club to combine facilities with its new building

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-day series looking at the Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha as it prepares to break ground on a new center this week.
BY MATTHEW OLSON
molson@kenoshanews.com

The former Christian Youth Council at 1715 52nd St., now part of the Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha, is only two blocks from the club’s future home at 14th Avenue and 52nd Street.

The change in location will not be dramatic. But the contents of the new building will be vastly different.

All operations from the CYC building and the club’s other facility at 3712 50th St. will move to the new center.

Ground for the 79,000-square-foot building will be broken at 4 p.m. Tuesday, and the club hopes to move in within a year.

While the building is estimated to cost $9.7 million, the organization wants to raise about $13 million to provide for the building and an endowment fund.

The city provided a $5 million donation in 2007. The campaign has mostly been conducted with large contributors, but Wally Graffen, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club, said the effort will become more public at some point.

"We’re very fortunate to have so much community backing,” Graffen said.

A look inside
The first floor of the new community center will allow for expanded programs for children, including a computer lab, a full-service kitchen and three multi-purpose rooms, which can serve 30 to 50 people each.

The gym will be the size of two high school gymnasiums, with room for multiple basketball and volleyball courts.

"It’s almost tripling our current gym capacity,” Graffen said.

There’s also a full-size indoor soccer field.

Soccer "draws in such a wide range of kids, and the field brings in a whole wide range of sports,” Graffen said. "More people play soccer than any other sport. It’s a big draw.”

Graffen said the field could be used for indoor football, a plus for the strong football programs already run through the Boys and Girls Club.

Also on the first floor is an outpost for the Kenosha Police Department. Specific use of the space is still being determined, but Graffen said police presence was a goal from the start.

Teen center
The second floor will be a teen center. No such space exists in Kenosha, and Graffen said creating this feature was a priority.

"We need a dedicated space for people between 13 and 18 years old,” Graffen said.

The space includes a video game room, a space for making art and a small theater, which can have additional seating for communitywide performances. A computer lab, teen-run concession stand and learning center are included.

"We had a teen focus group for what to have here, and their focus is different than what we thought,” Graffen said. "We didn’t have an art space before that group; we never even thought about that.”

Kenosha Police Chief John Morrissey sees a big benefit in the teen center.

"I am optimistic that it will result in reductions in some of the juvenile incidents we have from 2:30 to 10 p.m.,” Morrissey said. "There’s not a lot of places for youth to go and hang out as a group.”

The second floor also includes multiple offices for local non-profit organizations. The Spanish Center is the only organization to commit to the space, but Graffen said arrangements are being finalized with other organizations.

A pair of parking lots buffer the building. The site is accessible by several bus lines and is near the Kenosha Metra station.

"What else could you ask for in a location?” Graffen said.

Neighborhood boost
That location — near downtown, near an area of some blight — is important for future development in the area, Kenosha Mayor Keith Bosman said.

"Just having the land that was packaged for the Boys and Girls Club ... and all the activity that comes with it will be a great improvement for that area and that neighborhood,” Bosman said.

Bosman said he hopes features such as the indoor soccer facility can lure tournaments and bring visitors to the area. And he sees the facility as a gathering place for all of Kenosha’s residents.

"It will be an amenity that is enjoyed by people throughout the community,” Bosman said. "No matter what age group you are, there will be some kind of programming for everyone in the community. ... And it is certainly an investment in our children.”

Graffen said the club hopes to add baseball and softball fields at the site.

Inclusive building
Graffen said the goal is to make the building as inclusive as possible.

"You shouldn’t have a facility directed for just one purpose,” Graffen said. "This is for every walk of life.”

Graffen is looking forward to seeing the years of planning become a reality over the next few months, but mostly for being able to see people realize the potential of the building.

"I so look forward to seeing the first time that a kid swipes their card and starts using the game room or shooting hoops,” Graffen said. "That’s what I look forward to the most. We all just look forward to seeing kids take advantage of this facility.”

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Monday, May 24, 2010 - 21:27

 

Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-day series looking at the Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha as it prepares to break ground on a new center this week.

BY MATTHEW OLSON
molson@kenoshanews.com

The roots of the Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha can be traced to the Christian Youth Council almost 80 years ago.

The club is synonymous with youth activities and sports. While sports are still a major component, the club’s offerings and size have grown vastly. And the agency is set for even greater expansion as work begins this week on a new community center.

The Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha started in June 1992 in a church in the Wilson Heights area. The intention was to provide programs and activities for youth in that neighborhood. The club started with 198 members.

Over the next 10 years, the club expanded to additional buildings, merged with the Lincoln Neighborhood Center and Christian Youth Council and added after-school programming at several schools. The organization topped 5,000 members in 2002.

Numerous programs
While the majority of members are involved in sports, hundreds of children are also involved in educational and employment opportunities:

— 1,349 students were enrolled in after-school learning programs in 2009 at eight area elementary schools

— 1,300 have found employment since 2001 through the Youth Employment Program

— 337 at-risk children participated in programs through the Youth Empowerment Department, whose services include gang prevention, community service and mentoring programs.

Kenosha Mayor Keith Bosman said the impact and importance of these programs is immeasurable.

"If we did not have the Boys and Girls Club, there would be demand for these programs,” Bosman said. "To have an organization that encourages a lot of volunteerism I think is a great benefit to the people of Kenosha.”

Room to grow
The growth has strained the club’s facilities at 1715 52nd St. and 3712 50th St., so the organization started looking for a new home.

"When we looked at any plan to renovate we always said, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to start new?’” said Wally Graffen, the club’s executive director. "It cost us just as much to build new as it would to rebuild, and our biggest need was to expand the space for our programs.”

Ground will be broken at 4 p.m. Tuesday for the club’s new center at 14th Avenue and 52nd Street.

The new center and its new services are intended to extend the club’s community involvement even further.

"I think the facility can help reduce the dropout rate and improve our collaboration with other agencies,” Graffen said. "It just gives kids a safe place to be.

"We’re able to expand these programs so we can connect with more kids.”

$10 member fee
To be members of the Boys and Girls Club, youth have to stay in school and pay a $10 yearly membership fee. Graffen said fees will stay low.

"Right now we have 5,412 kids in membership,” he said. "Our goal with the new building is to expand to 10,000 kids.”

He also hopes the new center aids its neighborhood.

"I think it will bring more people downtown,” Graffen said. "Bringing people here and doing tournaments is not the cure-all for the area, but it is a stepping stone for other developments.”

The goal of the new center is to make everyone who is part of Kenosha feel they are a part of the building, Graffen said. "We’re dealing with the entire community, and the entire community is welcome.”

And he said he hopes the new center fulfills the club’s national motto: "Great Futures Start Here.”

"These kids just want to go to a place where they can have fun and enjoy themselves,” Graffen said.

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Saturday, May 01, 2010 - 15:27

BY MATTHEW OLSON

The Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha and Carthage College both advanced plans for new central buildings on Thursday.

The City Plan Commission reviewed the concept plan for a community center for the Boys and Girls Club at the northeast corner of 14th Avenue and 52nd Street on Thursday night.


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The nearly 80,000-square foot-building would replace the two current Boys and Girls Club sites — 1715 52nd St. and the Madrigrano Center at 3712 50th St. — and serve as a gathering place for area youths and house several community organizations.

Wally Graffen, chief executive officer for the Boys and Girls Club, said the facility will showcase a variety of features, including:

n Sports facilities.
The building includes space for an indoor soccer field and two full-size basketball courts, which can also be converted into four smaller courts.

“Soccer is a growing sport for all populations,” Graffen said. “And currently we are very limited in gym space.”

Future plans for the outside of the building include the presence of some type of sport field as well.

n A teen center with a fitness space, computer lab and a drama center that includes a stage. Graffen said the Boys and Girls Club will be seeking input from area teens about what will be a part of the center.n A youth center for 6-12 year old children featuring a game room, computer lab and art spacen Space for community groups. The Spanish Center has already signed on and Graffen said three other organizations are close to finalizing their involvement. Community organizations will also use the youth-based areas when children are in school.n An outpost for the Kenosha Police Departmentn Several multi-purpose rooms for community events and space for meal programs
For security purposes, the building will also have only one main entrance and check-in area.

Plan Commission members were encouraged by the early plans.

“I think it is a great-looking building,” Tim Mahone said.

Commission members also inquired about the lighting at the site, access for city buses and parking at the facility.

The project still requires approval for rezoning and a conditional use permit before beginning construction. Work on the site is expected to start next May and the building could be occupied by June 2011.

The city has donated $5 million towards the project and the Boys and Girls Club is working to raise an additional $8 million. The city is also receiving the Boys and Girls Club current properties in exchange for the city-owned land for the new site.

Also on Thursday, the City Plan Commission approved a conditional use permit for a new student center at Carthage College.

The 55,973 square foot center would involve the renovation of a vacant aquatic center east of the school’s football field.

The proposed building would feature a bookstore, four food retailers, a student lounge and a 200-seat auditorium. The renovation would also add a 1,700-seat grandstand and press box overlooking the football field that would be attached to the student center.

“It’s a transformative project for the center of campus,” Ray Maggi, project manager for the renovation, said.

The commission unanimously approved the conditional use permit. Construction is expected to begin in March and the center should be open by the fall of 2011.

The commission also unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the fifth 78-unit residence as part of the Oaks at Carthage College development. One more building is planned as part of that development.
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Friday, February 12, 2010 - 19:52

By Bill Robbins
brobbins@kenoshanews.com

Health, fitness and fun came together Wednesday as 135 children from local elementary schools participated in a wellness fair at the Boys and Girls Club’s Madrigrano Center.

The kids jammed the gymnasium and other areas of the facility, 3712 50th St., where five “wellness-activity stations” were placed.

The youngsters fashioned health-related crafts, participated in physical fitness activities and played games called “tooth relay race” and “five senses.”


Dental screenings
They also received dental screenings at Gateway Technical College by four volunteer dentists from the Dental Associates clinic in Kenosha.

The clinic donated 600 toothbrushes as well as toothpaste to encourage the kids to brush regularly.

All the children participate in the Boys and Girls Club’s after-school sites at eight Kenosha public elementary schools and the club itself.

Called Community Learning Centers, the sites provide enrichment programs such as this month’s “Cavity-Free Zone” dental-hygiene instruction, said Andrea Prichard, who is the centers’ program director and helped organize Wednesday’s events.


Saliva-free tasting
The children rotated from one wellness station to another every 20 minutes. Among the activities were a “saliva-free taste test,” in which the students dried their tongues with paper towels and then licked food such as crackers.

Then they taste-tasted the food without first dabbing their tongues.

That exercise illustrated the importance of saliva in producing the sense of taste. Without it, the food was tasteless.

As part of a sense-of-touch activity, the children reached into pillow cases containing fitness-related items, such as a Frisbee, and tried to identify them without looking.


Healthy Habits effort
The wellness fair and dental screenings were tied to an after-school program called “Healthy Habits,” which encourages youngsters to brush their teeth, get plenty of exercise and eat nutritious foods, Prichard said.

An art project involved making a pinwheel that displayed healthy foods. The kids also helped make a healthy snack — homemade popcorn heated in a pan on a stove.

The popcorn was topped with cinnamon and raisins instead of salt and butter.

“Making the popcorn in a pan is really exciting for them because they’ve never done that before,” said Nicki Ross, program director of the Boys and Girls Club’s Madrigrano Center.

“They think it all comes in a microwave bag,” she said.
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Friday, February 12, 2010 - 14:20

Support the Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha by Rounding Up your JCPenney purchases at the Shoppes at Prairie Ridge in Pleasant Prairie, WI. Round-Up events will take place March 22-April 6, August 4-17, October 13-26 and December 1-14. This nationwide program provides JCPenney customers the opportunity to make donations to the JCPenney Afterschool Fund at the cash register by rounding up their JCPenney store purchases to the next whole dollar. This year all donations collected by your local JCPenney store partner will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha afterschool program! Thank you to our JCPenney partner and all the local shoppers who made this event such a success in 2009. More

Monday, January 25, 2010 - 15:01

(From the Kenosha News 08/2909)


We’re pretty sure Chairman Bob will approve of this article.



No word yet on how his “Bobtourage” feels about that, but if Bob approves, they’ll probably approve it, too.



Robert Mariano, the CEO of Roundy’s, visited the Pick ’n Save at 1901 63rd Street at the Brass Community Center Friday afternoon to meet fans and raise money for the Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha.



The stop was the last of a six-city tour where Mariano took photos with shoppers, raised money, and had side-by-side comparisons of Roundy’s vs. national brand products.



Roundy’s bratwurst, Italian sausage and other fixings were on sale for $1 each, with all the money going to the Boys & Girls Club.



Mariano stars as Chairman Bob in a series of good-natured commercials where he gives a “thumbs-up” and says “Approved!” for different products, along with a group of underlings who anxiously seek his approval. Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc., is one of the largest grocers in this area and operates 152 retail stores under the Pick ’n Save, Copps, Rainbow and Metro Market banners in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

But if it were up to Bob, you might not even know his name. When the advertising team came up with the commercial idea, he gave them a thumbs-down. “It wasn’t my idea and I rejected the agency pitch,” he said. “I’m not a high-visibility guy. I’m low-key. The ones who are center stage and doing all the hard work are the ones in the store every day.”

The ad company changed his mind. So for the last two years, Chairman Bob has been featured with his three-person “Bobtourage” — a group of underlings trying hard to get his approval — as he travels the country looking for the freshest produce and value for the customers. The commercials can be seen in their entirety at www.meetchairmanbob.com.

Living up to his name, he said he bought some apricots from a store a day earlier, wasn’t satisfied with the taste, and had them removed. Since the commercials started airing, he said he gets hundreds of letters which allow him to connect with customers and make sure people get quality food.

Friday afternoon, a lot of people were happy to meet the man behind the name.

“He’s very personable on TV and I want to see if he’s like that in person,” said Kathy Holland, director of youth community at the Boys & Girls Club. “He seems really nice.” Roundy’s had several displays where people could taste test, try to pick out the Roundy’s brand vs. the national brand, and see which one they liked better.

Many people chose the Roundy’s brand as their favorite, which came as a surprise to customer Tunisia Tucker. “I’m shocked,” she said. “I try to buy depending on price, but the flavor is better.” Mike Eckart, said that’s the way most people react.

“We hear that a lot because we try to make it as close as possible,” said Mike Eckhart, the senior business manager for Daymon Worldwide, which formulates the food for Roundy’s. “Even when people say they can’t tell the difference, that’s a ‘win’ too, because it costs less.” More

Monday, January 11, 2010 - 20:51

From the Kenosha News
They raised roofs, painted playgrounds, repaired swings and slides, they cleared brush, paved trails and installed solar panels. And they had fun, gained new friends and made some money while they were at it.
But most of all, the 280 teenagers and young adults who spent their summer vacation beautifying Kenosha County public places learned valuable lessons about what they could expect when on the job in the “real world.”
“I hope you have taken pride in what you did,” Kenosha County Executive Jim Kreuser told the participants in the Summer Youth Employment Event, during a ceremony Friday at the Southport Beach House. “I appreciate what you did to make our community a better place.”
Earlier this summer, the young workers were hired for projects in a variety of locations, from Petrifying Springs County Park to the Spanish Center, a local homeless shelter, a nursing home, the St. Francis Animal Shelter and Project SOARR, Supporting Opportunities in Advancing Renewable Resources, among others.
Funded by a $300,000 federal grant through the Workforce Investment Act and Kenosha County, the eight-week employment program was for ages 14-24. In addition to the projects, the workers learned job interview skills, resume writing, money management and how to act in the work setting. High school students in the program also earned graduation credit.
On Friday, Kreuser, along with Kenosha Mayor Keith Bosman, presented certificates recognizing the students’ efforts, while Wally Graffen executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha, recognized local businesses, community agencies and individuals who assisted in training and mentoring youth. The county’s Division of Children and Family Services partnered with the Boys and Girls Club, Community Impact Programs and the Kenosha Unified School District to coordinate workers and provide mentors.
Kreuser said the program’s initial goal was to help employ 50 kids, and before long the county was able to hire gang intervention supervisor Donna Rhodes, who has been instrumental in introducing youths to the job program. Kreuser said supervisors at the many sites praised the workers.
“Every single person I talked to said, ‘You made our community better.’ And, you do work harder than the mayor,” Kreuser said in jest as Bosman chuckled.
Indian Trail Academy students Monique Gordon and Amber Cunado, both 14, said they enjoyed their summer work building picnic shelters at the new county park under development on Highway KD. Their group also installed pillars, and in one instance raised a roof over a shelter. Monique and Amber worked four hours a day.
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Monday, January 11, 2010 - 20:49

From the Kenosha News

BY JOE POTENTE jpotente@kenoshanews.com
Recent data from the Kenosha Police Department show sharp decreases in juvenile arrests over the recent summer, compared with a year earlier.

Arrests of youths 18 and younger for all crimes dropped to 647 during the period running May 1 through Aug. 20. That compares with 1,012 during the same period of 2008.

Virtually all categories of offenses saw decreases, with curfew and loitering showing the steepest decline with 241 arrests this year, compared with 433 last year.

Kenosha County Executive Jim Kreuser, whose office released the data Wednesday, attributed at least some of the decline to a new jobs program that employed some 300 area youths for eight weeks this summer.
“You get 300 youths who keep their noses clean and show up for work every day and are tired at the end of the day,” Kreuser said. “I think it was a decent part of that variable to keep those numbers down this year.”
Mayor Keith Bosman said he believed the jobs program played a significant role, along with stepped up prevention efforts by the Police Department. The department recently revamped its gang unit, while the city’s number of neighborhood watch groups has grown from 55 to roughly 120, Bosman said.
Bosman said he suspects last summer’s highly publicized neighborhood crackdown effort in the central city had some effect on spiking juvenile arrest numbers in 2008. But, he added, “We’re (still) doing sweeps; we just don’t announce where and when.”

The mayor also attributed some of the decline to the work of Police Chief John Morrissey, who has instituted a strict minimum staffing policy to ensure a police presence in the areas where officers are needed.

“It’s not one or two things,” Bosman said. “There’s a whole bunch of things that probably have gone into the statistics that we see today.”

Donna Rhodes, the county’s gang intervention supervisor, said keeping high-risk youths busy, involving them in positive activities and putting some money in their pockets has to account for at least some of the arrest reduction.
Along with the crime decreases charted by the Police Department, Rhodes said the youth empowerment director from the Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha, Dennis Bedford, has reported street level gang activities — parties, fights, bicycle thefts, etc. — have also seen a significant drop.
Referrals to juvenile court were also down this summer, Rhodes said.
“I think that just has a domino effect,” Rhodes said. “When you’re proud of what you do, you feel better about yourself. When you feel better about yourself, you’re not going to participate in things like gangs and drugs.”
The jobs program for ages 14 to 24 was launched with a $50,000 hard money allocation in the 2009 county budget, plus staff time, and was expanded with a $320,000 federal stimulus boost, part of an $803,000 grant to aid youth, adults and dislocated workers that the county received this year.
The county partnered with the Boys & Girls Club, the Kenosha Unified School District, Community Impact Programs Inc. and others to administer the program.
Kreuser said he is working with Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., to secure more federal money to continue it next year, and he has a larger local contribution planned in the 2010 county budget to be unveiled Oct. 6.
Bosman said this year’s arrest numbers can’t hurt in making the case for renewal.
“If they can wave those statistics in front of the powers that be, I think that’s significant,” Bosman said. “Maybe that sells the program and gives us another chance to do it all over again.”
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