City Council - Regular Meeting

Morning, it's J.B. Portello for Let's Talk About It, and I'm excited because my good friend Jim at the Boys and Girls Club, who, by the way, is sitting in the audience, contacted me not too long ago and said, you know what, we need to talk again. So today we're talking about the Boys and Girls Club in Bella Vista. I know it's much bigger than that, but this is all about Bella Vista, so we're going to talk about that today. And I have with me two incredible people. I have Rebecca, or Becca Christie, and I have Lupia Perez Lopez. Did I do that right? Yes, you did. All right. So, Becca, let's start with you, and tell me, who is Becca, and what do you do?

So, I'm the unit director at the Bella Vista Boys and Girls Club. I've been there for a little over two years. I'm in charge of the daily flow of the club, so making sure we're fully staffed and that everything is just running smoothly.

Alright, that sounds good. Somebody referred to you earlier as the principal of the group.

Yes, that's about right. But the good part about my job is that I also get to play with the kids. So when everything is going well, or sometimes not going well, I get to run around with the groups and make sure that the kids are having a good time.

maybe I should come over there sometime. You don't kind of wind down and just be a kid again. Yeah, you should. You're more than welcome to. Yeah, that's a good part about my job. All right. And Lupia, how about you? Who are you and what do you do?

Yeah, I'm a child advocate at the Boys and Girls Club. I have my license and master's in social work. I graduated about a year ago from the University of Denver social work program. I'm predominantly at the Rogers unit and visit the Lowell unit, but the mental health team is comprised of three child advocates.

So you're here today representing the Bella Vista Club.

Yes, Tally, yeah.

So what is a child advocate?

What does that mean? Yeah, so our offices are called the calming centers and so kiddos can come in there to kind of decompress. We do a lot of conflict resolution as well. We really try to meet the child wherever they're at that day, also our families. So sometimes they just need a space of quietness from the summer chaos right now or they like to talk or we do interventions as well, like talking about coping skills.

You know, you said something kind of important there where you said where they are today. So each day might be different. Yes. And you never know what might have happened at home before they got there. So you're pretty good at finding that and at least noticing that they need to be in the calm center.

Yeah. And then I'm also really grateful for all of our staff because it's not just the mental health team that's holding the torch for trauma-informed care. It's also our unit directors, our YDC, our floor staff. So it's really embedded within all of our organization.

You guys must have that skill set, the empathy, the caring, that I would have a hard time with that. So I'm grateful for people like you. So tell us about the Boys and Girls Club here in Bella Vista. Give us some history. Tell us about it.

Sure. Boys and Girls Club Bella Vista.

I think we might be able to pull up a slide here that gives us a little help. Yeah, absolutely.

There you go. Just keep talking all about that. So we've worked really hard in the past two years to make sure that our staff are well cared for. So when we have an environment where our staff are being fed into, then they're able to feed more into the kids. We have a lot of programs for the kids. We have Torch Club, which really works on teaching the kids like good citizenship skills. Torch Club? Torch Club. Torch Club, yes. So when we teach the kids citizenship skills, then they're able to go into the community and be good citizens. They work on community service. They work on coming up with the projects that we are doing in the club. And then they will then go out into the community and do great things. We also have a book club, which last semester we did the book Wonder. And it was awesome. We did that with our oldest group. It's about anti-bullying. The kids really enjoyed that. Their favorite thing was discussing the book. A lot of them had already read it. And so at first they were kind of like, we don't want to read a book like we're reading and we're discussing books in school. But then whenever we got them together, we were like, but we want to hear from you. They really, really enjoyed that.

What's the age range for that book club? The littles all the way up to the bigs?

We did it with the oldest group, so it was like 9 to 12, which that's just for school year. We have a lot of teens in the summer. But then we also have a financial literacy program, which is really great. So kids will actually go onto this website, and they're able to search up any type of topic from like life cycle of a ladybug to how to do your taxes. Wow. Yeah, it's really awesome, really awesome. Stuff that I wish that I had learned when I was younger. And then once they complete those quick quizzes, crossword puzzles, word document things, they will then earn money on a debit card. Real money? Yes, real money. Real money, and then they can take that debit card and go spend it. They can even cash it out at an ATM.

Really? Yep. Well, that's training them something right there, like how to use an ATM machine.

Yes, absolutely. And it teaches them how to budget their money. So they have a limit that they can earn each month. And then they have to finish, like, every job that they start. And then, you know, they can decide if they want to save that money that they're earning to buy something big or if they want to spend all of that money each month. What's the Kindness Club? Kindness Club, so that is really cool. That's something that just started this summer, actually, which Lupita kind of said, like, summer chaos. We have the most kids that we do in the summer. But our kids, there were four of them, and they came to our assistant unit director, Melina, and Tally, and they said, we want to do a Kindness Club. Okay. Um, and so the kindness club is just focused on talking about like, how can we be the kindest people we can be? How can we be good citizens? So it's going to be a lead into torch club. Okay. Right. Which focuses on being good citizens. Um, and they're going to present like challenges to the rest of the boys and girls club of Bella Vista of like, okay, for 30 days, smile at five people a day. or maybe give two people a compliment per day. And then they're going to meet up at the end of those 30 days and see how many people were able to do it and what response they got from that, how it made them feel, and how it made those other people feel.

Wow. Would you go up to Washington, D.C. and implement that for us?

I think that would be awesome. That would be great to see what that did.

Well, you're training the next generation, though, to be a little bit more empathetic and kind and, you know, graceful toward other people. That is absolutely beautiful. You also have an art club.

Yes, that's something that we're going to be doing in the fall semester. Our lead staff will be doing that, and she will be teaching just the basics of art.

Okay.

Now, remind me, you said what's the youngest that we serve? Yes. So from five, and then oldest is 18, as long as they're in high school. Okay. So you have quite a few teens in the summer? Yes, we do. We actually, this is the first year that we've had our teen space open. Do they help with the younger kids? Sometimes they do. At the end of the day, we have roundup, which is just an opportunity for our kids to kind of reflect on the day and think of like, you know, what was my favorite part of the day? Maybe what was my least favorite part of the day? What could I have done better? What do I wish I wouldn't have done? And our older kids have the opportunity to help our staff facilitate that.

If I remember, because I came and did a tour, I probably need to come and do that again, but you have... computers that the kids can use, right? And all kinds of things that they can look up things. I'm sure you have some sort of governors on there too, though.

Absolutely. We actually have our newly renovated innovation station, which is upstairs. So it's our learning center and our tech center combined. We have Chromebooks now along with desktop computers. It's awesome. And we have rules, of course, that go along with our computers. Kids are only ever playing educational-based games that our staff have planned.

Rounding back a little bit to the book club, where do you get your books? I mean, do you take donations by any chance from the community? Do you have a set of... Tell me about your books.

Sure. We would love to take donations of books from the community. But as far as picking which book the book club does, I know that was a conversation between Tally and Melina, if you want to talk about that.

Yeah, so it was also a part of like Tally, the mental health team, the child advocate. So it came from our budget, the mental health one that is grant funded largely like our funding in general. And so they picked Wonder because there's already a programming that the mental health team does that is also about Wonder where they watch the movie. We do activities around it. And so they wanted to do it more in depth with the older kiddos. And so that's when they chose to do the book. And they collaborated the mental health team and the programming.

Wow. I think a lot has changed since I've been over there. Jim, I need to come back, okay? Absolutely. All right, there you go. Now, one more thing that I know you've added since I've been there is I think last time you were actually working on getting the funding for this, but you have a climbing wall over there now, right? Yes. It was put in a couple of years ago or three years ago.

I think it was, 2023.

Yeah, something like that. What is that? It's indoors, obviously. Yes. So obviously safety things go along with that. Of course.

But any of those age groups, are they able to use that climbing wall? Yeah, every age group uses the climbing wall. Right now we do it on Thursdays in the summer. We call it Thrilling Thursdays. Thrilling Thursdays. Thrilling Thursdays, yes. So they do it during their playground and their gym rotations.

So what's a typical day like that? We'll get to you in a little while. What is your typical day like? Walk me around your space.

Sure, sure. I mean, a typical day, I'm coming in, I'm catching up with my assistant unit director to see if there's anything that I need to address. Communication is huge with our floor staff or our YDCs and then with our assistant unit director, also with our child advocates, making sure we're all on the same page. You know, I'm going to check my emails, see if there's anything like this awesome opportunity. Thank you so much for having us.

Oh, it's fun. I enjoy you guys.

And then I'm going to address any administrative things that need to be addressed. I'm going to check in with the YDCs, see if they need anything, because, again, supporting our staff is number one priority, along with, of course, supporting the kids. Sure. And then I'm going to walk around, hang out with the kids. and just make sure everything is running smoothly.

Okay. So when do children arrive in the morning? What are your hours?

Yeah, for sure. In the summer, our hours are 7.30 to 5.30. Okay. All right.

Do the parents bring them in, or do you have a bus service?

In the summer, the parents bring them in. So we kind of have groups combined into a few different groups in the mornings, which kids are split up into color groups based on their ages. And then we will serve them breakfast, and they rotate throughout the building. So they do get, what, two meals? Yes, they get breakfast and lunch and then an afternoon snack in the summer.

I'm coming over, okay?

Okay, yeah, for sure. I would love to have you.

I'd love to show you around. What about music? What do you do with music? Anything?

You know, one of my favorite games that sometimes they'll do in the gym is, like, I don't know what you would call it, but if we play music for the younger kids and they love this, and then we stop the music and they have to freeze.

Oh, yeah, freeze. It's not the one chair's missing. No, no, that might get a little wild. It would. But they have to freeze. And then what? They're in special poses?

Yeah, we can do special poses or just freeze. And then if they move after the music, they're out.

Okay, that's how they get eliminated. Okay, so they become a mime. Yeah. Pretty much. For sure.

Okay.

All right. Well, I tell you what, I'm excited to talk to you. I want to talk to you right after the break. It's a little early, but we're going to take a little bit of a quick break, and then we're going to come back and we're going to talk about this. I'm excited. Okay, and we're back. That was such a long break, right? All right, so now let's talk about what you do. Again, say what you do, what your role is, and then we'll get into this.

Yeah, so I'm one of the child advocates, part of the mental health team at the club. Our offices are the calming center, so kids can go in there to decompress. We have what is called the calming center list, and so kids can ask themselves to be on the list, and so we make our way through that. I also am really big about checking on our staff, and I know Tally is too, so she'll go. We'll go to each group to check in also with our staff as well as with the kiddos. We try to make sure that we're as accessible as possible, not only to the club members, but to our staff as well.

Okay, so the staff sometimes needs to decompress.

Yeah, or maybe they just do like a five-minute breather or they like want to tell me about some like patterns of behaviors like, hey, you might want to keep an eye on this or could you add this person to the comm center list? So we try to be super communicative.

Okay, so I'm somebody that is coming and I've requested to be at the comm center. How would you deal with me?

Okay. So I would go grab you from your group. I would ask you if you want to bring a friend with you. If not, I will choose another club member. And so I'll have you come in there. We usually have like these little fun emotion shakers. And I'm always like, what emotion are you feeling today? And I also like for the club member to make it their own. So it's not always like super talkative. Maybe they just need that quiet space. And I did bring this box that kind of is representative of the growth of the mental health team. So it used to be just a box, right? That would be around the club that's accessible. accessible to our club members and now it's a whole room and I think we have a photo of it. And so it's a super like sensory friendly comm center and we have them on our traditional sites, Bella Vista being one of them.

Is that the picture on the screen? Yeah. Is that your comm room?

Yeah, in Bella Vista, yeah. Thank you, Paul. So it started from this box all the way now to a full room. And so it's pretty much this times three in the room. We do interventions about conflict resolution.

Hold it up to the camera there and hold it still. Okay.

So we will do this. For example, if maybe a kid ran away or did something that they want to talk about, like repairing, how can I repair it? It's not just that we want to identify the kiddo by the behavior they did, but also how can I repair it with another club member or with my staff? So that's an example.

Or ever at home.

Yeah, and at home as well. We are really collaborative with our parents too.

Good.

Yeah, and very communicative. We are pro being on the parents' teams.

Okay, what else is in here?

I see good stuff. Yeah, we have a mindfulness maze that can also be used for like deep breathing.

I'll pull it up so that the, I think it's that camera now. Okay.

We also have some coloring books. And so all of these things are now in our office. This is just like representative of how we started. And then this is some of the kids' favorite things. After the calming center session, I do give them the option to have a sticker.

Hold that up so people can see your stickers.

And they have like their fidget as well. So like they're textured. And so this is really helpful for on the go. So maybe like, obviously our calm center sessions are only like 10 to 15 minutes, so they can't be in there all day, but this helps them regulate in the moment as well.

Okay. Yeah. All right. Those are fun.

And we also have like magnet tiles. But yeah, I just wanted to bring this because it's representative of like how we started. And now it's like a whole office and a whole calming center space.

Yeah. Yeah, and I see something fuzzy in there. What's that?

Yeah, it is like a maze.

Oh, I thought it was a little rabbit stuffed ball.

There's like a hidden ball in there that they can like take throughout the maze. There's a ball in there? Yeah.

Oh, and you run it through the maze.

Yeah.

Okay, I'll be with you after the show in a second. Oh, what fun. Yeah. Did somebody make this for you?

No, I think that was purchased. But sometimes kiddos need things to fidget with in their hands to be able to communicate how they're feeling. That is so cool. Look at this. The little ball is right here.

Okay.

Yeah. So we pretty much have this at all our sites.

Okay. So how does someone sign up? Are you full right now?

We are, yes. I know Bella Vista is what you listed.

So how does that work? How does somebody sign up to be part of the Boys and Girls Club?

So they can just go to our website. They'll pick register or log in. They'll make a DocsCo account, and then they'll pick the site that they're interested in, and then they'll click the weeks that they're interested in signing up for.

So is there like a background check or anything like that at all?

For the kids? Yeah, anybody is welcome to join, of course. They need to be in kindergarten for the school year or have completed kindergarten for the summer. But yeah, we would love to have anybody. Anybody? Yeah. Okay.

You know, we were talking a little bit earlier about potential field trips. Do you do any of those now at all? Do you take the kids out during the summer places? Yes. Like what?

Yes, we do. We're actually going to see Toy Story 5 next week. And then the teens also have their own field trips, like the Spanish Treasure Cave. Oh, I know that. And they're going to Sky Zone, I think, next week. Uh-huh. So they do field trips once a week in the summer. What's Sky Zone?

It's like a trampoline park in Rogers.

Oh! Yeah, they're really excited about that one.

I bet so.

I asked for their suggestions and that was their number one and we were able to make it happen.

Well, like we mentioned, and I know you're full this summer, but, you know, feel free. You guys are just really down the street from us, really, so you might think about bringing the kiddos in here in the summer and we'll give them a tour. Put them behind a camera, show them what to do.

Yeah, we're huge on workforce readiness. So I would love to do that.

Tell me more about workforce readiness. What other things, what do you do to prepare people for the workforce?

Sure. So that ties back into our financial literacy program or Life Hub program. So even on that, when they're able to explore those different courses, there's jobs that are like life in the day of a chef or how to be a mechanic. So they're able to explore different career options where then, of course, they're being paid money for completing those courses. Yes. So, you know, if there's things like how to work a camera or what it's like to be a photographer, it would be awesome to, you know, get the temperature of those kids on what do you think about, you know, maybe working at a TV station in the future and then having them come and see what it's actually like. It would be awesome. It would. So do you have guest speakers or anything come in or do you usually just go out? We have had guests come in before and run activities or just come in and talk to our kids and of course we can really do whatever we want. The world is kind of our oyster in that way. I'd love to have you guys.

Okay. So let's go back and talk more about this calming room and other things you do. Do you incorporate art and music in what you do?

Yes, for sure. All our traditional sites have the calming center and we have a smart board. What I like to do is like put calming music, like lo-fi music. We also do like yoga if the kiddo is open to it. So like being in your body, like mindfulness, how to calm down and how to like truly ground yourself in the moment, especially for our kiddos that have a lot of energy. It's really good for them to slow down.

Okay.

Yeah.

I actually convinced Tally to buy a xylophone not that long ago because one of our other unit directors was sharing his success with it. If there's a child that doesn't want to talk, we can just start with, okay, well, I'm going to play on this xylophone. I would love to have you join me if you want, or if not, like... I'm just going to play this, and here is one of the other little tongs. And then how that can open a dialogue where it's even nonverbal at first, but then it can turn verbal, even just talking about the music. And then eventually, once they're a bit more regulated, they're going to be more willing to talk about what happened.

Well, and I can see how if somebody's got a talent that they don't know about yet, so somebody's playing the xylophone and one of the children comes up and hits a note that actually harmonizes with everything else.

Wouldn't it be fun? Sure, for sure. And then, I mean, everybody's going to giggle, and the temperature is going to go down, and they're going to be more willing to discuss what happened.

Yeah, absolutely. All right, so what else would you, what message would you like to get across today about your organization? And just tell me what's on your mind right now.

Yeah, I think I definitely want to shout out the organization, like providing that trauma informed care. And a lot of the times we hear trauma informed and we're like, what does that actually mean? The way we describe it to our staff, because we also provide those trainings, is the iceberg. So you see the iceberg and the presenting problem may be like a kiddo screaming or they're crying. And underneath that, underneath the iceberg, there's water, there might be some animals. So there's things happening. And so we ask our staff and everyone to not just not investigate per se, but try to come into the situation with empathy trying to meet them where they're at that day. And that's why we're really a big proponent of that. And also having strength-based mindset, not identifying a kid by just one behavior. And I think that's what sets us apart is that we really feel like we need to develop and help these club members as well as their families. We're really big about having a family engagement series where we provide workshops for parents about, like in the past we did about how to talk to your child about abuse, cyber safety, and we collaborate with local community organizations. And so we're really a holistic program. It's not just for the club members, but it's also for their families as well.

Wow. So what made you decide to go into social work? I mean, you just seem ideal for that sort of thing. What made you decide to do that?

Yeah, I've always known that I loved working with kids. I'm an aunt, I have six nieces and nephews. So I've always been drawn to them and I've always been into like being with the community, helping aid them. I used to actually want to be an attorney. Me too. Wait a minute. Yeah. And then I worked in the school with a mental health company. And so that's kind of how I found my pathway. And then I graduated and I wanted to move back to the area because I'm originally from Carroll County. Yeah. And I was like, the Boys and Girls Club has an opening and they advertise it trauma informed and they definitely are. And it's been the best. I officially will be here for a year next week.

And look at her. She smiles all the time. She's awesome. Is she just doing that today?

No, no, that is Lupita. Well, that would make you happy, just walking into some place with a smile like that. Yes, she does. Anytime I see her, it makes me happy.

Well, what about you? I mean, your background is... What do you like the most about your job?

Well, first I want to brag on the mental health team. Lupita said that this used to be... A box. Right. And now we actually have, like, chilling corners that are a box and a little bit more throughout the building. So we have a chilling corner up at the front desk, and Bella Vista also has one in the game room. So we have what used to be... calming center spread out throughout the building so the mental health program has just grown exponentially within the past two years that I've been here and now we have an entire room that is just full of resources and it has changed how we do our jobs so much so I just want to brag on the mental health program it has changed the culture of the Boys and Girls Club it's been amazing so props to them for sure. But why I do my job is every single interaction can change So much. One interaction with you could change how you interact with somebody else, whether it be your kids, your family. So when I'm interacting with a child, I try to keep that in mind. They're going to go home and interact maybe different with their sibling or their parent, and that's just going to ripple out. So that's why I do what I do, and that is my favorite part of my job.

Wow. We haven't told anybody where you are in Bella Vista yet, have we?

I don't think so. It's 2260 Forest Hills Boulevard.

Okay. That's outstanding. And you are actually, for perspective, I think you're kind of across the street from the public safety building. That's right. Right? So the police are right across the street. Yes, they sure are. Everybody has a different idea about police, but our police are really helpful, and they do a lot of community things. And I don't know if you've ever had them come over and talk or not, but that would be a fun thing.

We actually had their community engagement officer come volunteer at one of our family engagement events.

Speaking of volunteering, what are opportunities for any of us in the community? Do you have? spots for people to come in and volunteer to help?

Yeah, absolutely. How does that work? So they can, I think we actually have the positions posted on LinkedIn. I actually noticed that. Really? Yeah, I think it's great. So they can hop on there, just put in their information. and it'll funnel through to our volunteer engagement person, and she will reach out. And, of course, the first time will be kind of like a trial opportunity, and then after that, because, of course, safety of the kids is our number one priority.

And I'm sure there's background checks.

Then we'll do the training and background checks. But, I mean, I would love to have people come, and they can do things like cleaning, building maintenance, or stuff like running activities, helping our staff, whatever they're interested in.

That would be fun. Yes. It really would be a lot of fun.

Yes.

Okay, so one more time. Where are you? What are your hours? And how do people find out more about you, either one of you?

Sure. So we're located at 226 Forest Hills Boulevard. Our summer hours are 730 to 530. And to find out more information about us, you can just go to our website, which is bgcbentoncounty.org. Okay.

Okay. I want to come and play with you.

Let's do it.

And I'm enthralled with this. I think I'm going to go home and look this up on the Internet and get one because I could use these in some of the board meetings I'm in.

Oh, yeah, you should.

All right. Well, ladies. It's a pleasure. We'll have to do this a little more often. If there's anything we can do to help out your cause, let us know. I would be really glad to help in any way we can. So, studio audience, remember, we are a totally non-profit, all-volunteer organization, and we depend on the community. And not only do we depend on the community for support, but also to let you know what's going on in our community, such as this. So thank you so much, and we'll see you next month for Let's Talk About It.