Meet Our Neighbors
Nicole DeFeo took over as Executive Director of the Boy & Girls Club of Paulsboro in the summer of 2004 (she also serves as Executive Director of the Glassboro Club). Here she shares her thoughts on what the club is doing in Paulsboro, and what the future holds.
Q: Have you made any changes to the club since you started?
Yes. When I first started, we had some programs running, but now we have a full range of programs. Boys & Girls Club programs traditionally address five different areas of child development: character and leadership, health and life skills, the arts, sports recreations and education and career. Now we have at least one program running in each of these major areas, and multiple programs in some areas. The technology piece has really grown since I came to Paulsboro: all of our kids have passed basic computing and are moving on to more advanced computer skills. From there we’ll start doing CAD design and some more applicable skills that they’ll be able to take with them. One of our big goals for the future is to bring in more teenagers, so we’re starting career programming now as well. Many of the Boys & Girls Club programs have already been proven to work at the national level, so we’re instituting a lot more of those.
Q: What kinds of facilities are available to kids who use the club?
Right now the clubhouse has a computer lab, a learning center, a small library, a café, and a game room. Last fall we were able to do extensive landscaping with BP’s help. When you pulled up to our building before, the grass was patchy, there was a pile of sand on the steps from where the grass used to be, and it was really just not a place that kids could be proud to say was their club. Our tag line is “A positive place for kids,” so we need to be positive from the inside and the outside. BP saw that need and was able to help fill it.
Q: What do you like best about your job?
The interaction that I get with the kids. My administrative duties keep me pretty busy, so I don’t really get a lot of time to do hands-on projects with the kids, but I do get to spend some time with them. Whenever I’m having a tough day, I walk around and see the kids participating in activities and it lifts my spirits. Maybe there will be one child who got a C last marking period, who comes in with a B and is just so proud! That’s what makes my job worth doing.
Q: What would you like to do in the future?
I’d like to see more older kids coming in the door and have them guide the younger kids. It’s known that in Paulsboro and in all of south Jersey there are a lot of activities for younger kids and high school kids. But the middle school kids are like the forgotten few and there really isn’t much going on for them. That’s when they start to find companionship and leadership in the streets with the wrong type of people. So we want to provide an alternative to that, a place where they can come and be themselves and learn something positive. We want to be the safe place where kids of all ages can come, so they can learn and grow.
