
Cultivating skills for the real world
Greg Elma looks the part. The 17-year-old construction worker is wearing a well-stocked tool belt, a hard hat and protective glasses as …

A wedding with a twist
Family values will be reinforced and redefined at an unusual wedding ceremony on Friday. Lexus Spence, 23, will marry Roy Edwards not …

Our kids are the reporters for this newspaper
Reading and writing are essential skills for success in today’s world. That’s why Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland became one of …

Club helped her read and spell like a champion
Brianna Smith’s mother did not know where to turn. Her daughter was in third grade but her ability to read was nowhere …

Future restaurateur finds roots in the Club
Antonae Norris is studying the restaurant business from the ground up – literally. The 15-year-old Cleveland Central Catholic High School student is …

Homeless to hopeful: one Club kid’s story
The odds were stacked against Nick Curry. At 16, he was homeless. For years, he’d known his mom could not care for …

‘The best thing that ever happened to me’
Zayllianny Mojica smiles a lot. The 18-year-old’s grin gets particularly wide when she is asked what belonging Boys & Girls Clubs of …

Why I volunteer
“I volunteer at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland because they remember. ‘Hi Miss Alyssa.’ ‘Will you help me with my homework …

Boys & Girls Clubs to honor their own Olympic hopeful
All the way through middle school, Charles Conwell each day attended the Heights Youth Club, one of 14 locations operated by the …

Clubs’ work in the inner city deserves everyone’s attention
By Walter K. Chapman Richard Starr is an inspiration. Like a lot of inner-city kids, Richard struggled to find himself during his …

He now helps others thrive at the place where he found hope
The odds were stacked against Richard Starr. For most of Richard’s life, his father has been in prison. “He missed out on …

A change in attitude yields positive results
Everyone, it seems, knew of Shamar Smith – but for all the wrong reasons. “Attitude, talking about people, getting suspended from school, …