Discovering Destinee
I have been a member of the Salvation Army Ken Carlson Boys & Girls Club since I was seven years old. For 11 years I have been on a journey of discovery.
Destinee started attending the Club as a little girl when her mother decided she needed to have a safe place to go after school, receive help with homework, and participate in programs.
In my mother's quest to help me find someone who could give me something she could not, she decided to enroll me at The Boys & Girls Club. Thank God she did.
Destinee participated in every program offered at the Salvation Army Ken Carlson Boys & Girls Club including Career Skills, SMART Girls, Money Matters, Triple Play, and Healthy Habits.
Destinee really enjoys the Career Skills Program and loves reflecting on her time learning how to create resumes, dress for interviews, meet mentors, and visit local businesses to learn about organizational leaders. Destinee has further applied the skills she learned in the Career Skills Program to get a part-time job!
I think the most memorable moment for me in the program was when a presenter shared the quote, "The world will tell you who you are, until you tell the world". This made the program real for me.
Destinee also recalls some very valuable lessons she learned during SMART Girls programs and was able to apply them during a particularly difficult time in her life when she needed to rebuild her self-esteem.
No one wants to feel that their family thinks they are ugly, dumb, and unworthy of love. SMART Girls taught me the view I have of myself is what matters most. As long as I keep myself healthy by eating right, exercising, and taking care of my body, I am on the right track.
As an active participant in the Triple Play Program, Destinee learned how to replace negative rhetoric with positive affirmations, and found unconditional love and support through Club Staff.
The Triple Play Program gave me the strength to leave the home I had always known up to the age of 13, and escape the abuse being heaped on me. This program saved me from the unhappiness I was living every day.
Destinee remembers how The Money Matters Program taught her to manage money and prioritize funds to independently support herself through school successfully. Through a community summer youth employment program, she had the opportunity to work as a junior counselor at the Boys & Girls Club and served as a Club Ambassador.
I have been financially independent for over a year now. I set money aside for my college education and take care of my needs without having to burden anyone else.
Destinee shares that over the last decade of being a Club Member, she has been blessed with many "mother figures" in the staff. Through their strength, encouragement, acceptance, and guidance, Destinee has had incredible life-changing opportunities, ultimately molding her into the best version of herself.
The Club is my homeplace; where everything I need to feel good about myself is within reach. Know I know how to be the best possible me, and I could not ask for a better environment for learning to love Destinee.