LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — When conversations turn to education and youth violence, you don’t often hear about the Boys & Girls Club.
Brenda Mitchell knows firsthand the power of the organization. Standing beside her adopted son, she remembers the tears and struggles that brought them together.
“Oh, I saw a lot,” Mitchell said. “However, he had a lot of good down inside that I was able to tap into to bring him to where he's at now, because he was terrible. I got church members that say, ‘Who? That boy was terrible.’”
Mitchell herself is a product of the Boys & Girls Club.
“I'm a witness for you,” she said. “I'm a former club kid from central Illinois.”
She credits the club with saving her life.
“It saved my life because I was headed down the wrong path. I wouldn't elaborate on that part, but I was headed down the wrong street," Mitchell said.
The lessons she learned about diversity, responsibility and giving back have shaped her adult life.
“When I became older, I was a volunteer. I volunteered with the after-school program.”
Two years ago, the City of Radcliff and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kentuckiana began working together to bring the organization to Hardin County.
Daryle W. Unseld Jr., CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kentuckiana, said the mission is the same everywhere — to serve youth who need it most.
“The magic of the Boys and Girls Club, traditionally, is that we've been in challenged neighborhoods,” Unseld said. “Radcliff may not look like that kind of place. It’s kind of rural and surrounded by the military, but the issues of a big city are right at home in Hardin County.”
“Just like any other town, there are youth violence issues and drugs, and we want the Boys and Girls Club to be a safe place for young people as an alternative.”
For Mitchell’s 13-year-old son Kennard, the club could be exactly that.
“At school, sometimes I'd be distant from the rest of the kids,” he said. “But here, since I have a good interest with these kids like you say, a common interest about church and stuff I’ll be able to make connections with them.”
The new Boys & Girls Club of Radcliff could help write the next chapter for the Mitchell family and for countless others across Hardin County.
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