The Membership Card Worth Having a Wallet For: Victor’s Story
As a “latch key kid” — that generation of us who were free to wander from school to home and friends’ homes, and everywhere in between — I wore a shoelace tied around my neck with our apartment key on it. In fact, I was just five when I started walking myself to school.
My parents are immigrants. My mother worked at a sweatshop from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every single day and my father was in the back of kitchens with long days of his own. He would leave early in the mornings and wouldn’t get back until past midnight, so nobody was home in those afterschool hours. It was lonely and a lot of time for a kid to fill.
One day my parents told me about the West End House, a Boys & Girls Club in Boston. It was a just over a minute’s walk from our apartment. All that time, this place that was about to change my life was less than a block away. It’s where I ended up spending almost every day of my life from age 11 to 18.
At the time, they were only accepting teenagers for membership and I was absolutely devastated. I was so passionate about going I went back, took a quarter for membership and changed my age on the application. Lies are complicated things, but when I look back on that one, I know the lie kept me safe and connected for two years I would’ve been on my own. And I’m thrilled knowing that Boys & Girls Clubs today serve kids ages six to 18 — kids like me who needed a place to belong.
That Boys & Girls Club membership card — it felt like it was the only thing I really owned that I did by myself. I even took one of my dad’s old wallets that he wasn’t using anymore to hold that card. At age 11, it was only thing I had to put in it.
Before the Club I thought I had it good. I had a roof, I had clothes, I had food. I slept in the living room on a couch, but I didn’t think anything of it. But by joining the Club I got my first sense of community — something I did not have at home.
The Club molded and shaped me. The executive director, Bill Margolis, who we called “Snoopy,” instilled trust in me and made me feel a sense of belonging. It wasn’t long before I started volunteering to help out around the Club. I would go in there and sit behind the check-in desk as if I was an actual job, because it gave me a sense of responsibility.
The Club was my home and my refuge, and it made me realize the sheer privilege I had walking through that door and choosing to be there.
Today I am the president at Advantage Unified Commerce. There are a lot of things I learned at the Club that drive my leadership today. I loved to play basketball at the Club. I was pretty terrible at it. The advice I got from Club staff then that I give my team now has become a mantra for me: Failure isn’t measured by the result or the scoreboard; it’s measured by the effort.
If you don’t put the effort in, you failed. In the end the score may say you lost, but if you left it all out there and you’re exhausted, and you are proud of what you did, then you won.
One day when my kids are older, I am going to bring them to the West End House. Because when you’re young you remember the Club was a place to go, to swim, to see friends, and to play, but as you get older, more mature, the “what-ifs” are what you think about.
What if that Club had not been on the same block I lived? What if I had not changed my birthday? What if I did not get the membership card? What if “Snoopy” had not been a mentor and role model? What if they had not allowed me to help behind the desk?
I want my kids to see the place that contributed to a considerable portion of who I am today. The Club set me on this path.
Join the Club
Boys & Girls Clubs of America provides caring adult mentors and life-shaping programs to millions of kids and teens each year. In safe, inclusive places, youth build the skills and resilience to thrive in school, the workplace and in life. Join us on our mission of helping all young people reach their full potential:
