Diehl Club Director
Patrice Dickens is a role model for kids and parents
Patrice Dickens has a calm, soothing manner with the kids that she mentors as director of the Diehl Club, which is tucked inside a northwest Detroit neighborhood that has seen better times. Parents depend on the Club as a guidepost in helping their children become the best they can be.
Patrice knows that the Club is a safe haven for these children and their families. "I raised my children in this neighborhood and identify with these parents," she said. "My heart has always been here." Her children, Tenai, 25 (in April) and Anthony, 22, were former Club members, while Andrew, 14, is a current member.
"Parents get overwhelmed," said Patrice. "They go to work worrying about what their kids are into. We have to embrace the whole family."
Patrice grew up in Washington, D.C., and had to walk 20 blocks to a recreational club (not a Boys & Girls Club). That experience offered a respite that Boys & Girls Clubs provides to kids in similar inner city neighborhoods. Surviving in tough neighborhoods is a cycle that can only be broken through education and better opportunities, she notes.
In the late 1980s, Patrice had to balance parenting two young children with working part-time as a secretary at the Diehl Club and attending Wayne State University. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, she became an art room instructor at the Diehl Club.
Her dedication to B&GCSM is personal, which she recounts here. "I hadn't made up my mind about making the Boys & Girls Clubs my career. I was serving as a mentor to a teenage boy at the Diehl Club and helped him through some tough times. A few years later, he came back to visit and talked about his experience in college. Then, unexpectedly, he gave me a hug and said, 'Thank you for saving my life.' He recalled a contest that I advised him to participate in, which he did, and won. He said that he never forgot that time when she believed in him. I thought, if I could touch one person like that, I'm hooked."
To grow with B&GCSM, she was encouraged to get more experience at other Clubs. She became a program assistant at the Bloomer Club, then program coordinator at the former Guest Club (which merged its membership into the Dauch Campus - NFL-YET Boys & Girls Club), and served as interim director at the Huron Valley Club before returning to the Diehl Club in 2006 as director. Under her guidance, the Club gives kids the structure, discipline and guidance that many don't get elsewhere.
The spacious Club was newly renovated in 2009. It now contains a Lion's Den - a large carpeted room off the gym with two big-screens for playing Wii fitness games. The room was built with funds from Hometown Huddle, a joint effort of Detroit Lions Charities and United Way for Southeastern Michigan. The Club also features Dontrelle Willis Park: two new baseball fields named in recognition of the gift made by Detroit Tigers pitcher Willis.
Inside the Club, the kids are safe and playful - forming bonds with their friends, reveling in the choice of activities and eager to learn new things in programs ranging from Passport to Manhood to Detroit TEENS, a Michigan Works! affiliate career development program.
"The kids make me think that I'm a lot younger than I am," said Patrice. "It's the little things: the hugs, the kid who is confident in doing something new, all the things that parents value are also the things that I value."
On Super Bowl Sunday - a blistering cold winter's night, Patrice opened up two rooms at the center to boys from the Club and New Beginnings Church, which co-hosted an event called Guys Day Out Super Bowl Celebration. Males of all ages from the Club and church, as well as their fathers, grandfathers, guardians and other male friends and mentors were invited. Patrice wasn't allowed to stay, which was just fine with her. She knew the importance of having 91 males bond over sports, whether they played basketball in the gym or watched the game on the Club's big screen TV.
Despite her calm demeanor, she has a steely side, telling the kids, "I can't help you if you want to hang around the streets. I'll ask to see their report cards - we often become their surrogate parent. For the most part, these kids want that guidance; in their heart of hearts, they want to do the right thing."
She is also passionate about coordinating a program called Family PLUS (Parents Leading, Uniting, Serving). The program enables Club staff to work with community-based partners to address concerns that affect the health and well being of those who belong to the program through referrals to various resources.
As part of the program, Patrice hosts parent meetings to discuss and reinforce good parenting skills and she and her staff put on special events and a games night for parents and children in the program. Family PLUS was funded partially by a United Way grant in 2009 and the Kimberly-Clark Corp., but funding was curtailed in 2010. Patrice hopes to restore the funding because of the positive impact that it had on families.
Reflecting on 2009, Patrice cites the highlights. "Tiny Tigers has been a plus for us. (It is funded by the Detroit Tigers Foundation.) We partnered with other youth agencies to do softball and T-ball. We enjoyed having the Lion's players come in for Hometown Huddle and hang out with the kids. And we did a lot with Family Plus activities - including family packages to Pistons games and Tigers games, family picnics at the Club, and a trip to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit."
Club members have also taken trips to Second Ebenezer Church & Wayne State University to attend college open houses where they could talk to multiple college representatives, look at posters and videos of campuses, and take home literature for consideration.
"More of the kids from the Club are going to college," Patrice said. "They know if they want to do well, it's what they need to do."
She is hopeful that the Clubs can help revive Detroit's struggling neighborhoods. "I think we will come out stronger from this recession. I would like the Club to become more of a resource center for families and parents. Our professional staff not only helps kids, we also assist parents and grandparents who are raising kids. Children need consistency and we provide that.
"I'm thankful that I've had this experience of being a part of kids' lives," she said. "Their parents have entrusted us (Diehl Club) with this wonderful opportunity."
