Celebrating 10 Years of YELLS: A Look Back, May Edition

Celebrating 10 Years of YELLS: A Look Back

2018 marks the 10 year anniversary of YELLS!  My name is Kevin Keefe and I’m the treasurer of the YELLS Board.  My reflection here is one in a series of ten reflections over the ten months between now and YELLS’s October 18 Tenth Anniversary Networking Dinner. Next month’s reflection will offer a different perspective on the path of this amazing organization and the people who make it so incredibly special.

 

In 2009, just a few months after we were married, my wife told me she was going to leave her job as a teacher at Marietta High School. Laura had been running a Mentoring Program since 2008, and as the Great Recession only seemed to get deeper, decided it was time to quit her job and see where the non-profit world would take her. It didn’t take long for the need of an Afterschool Program serving Franklin Road youth from within their community to become apparent. While the need was evident, not much else was going to come so easy as funding, space, employees, and finances would need figuring out. After touring the community and listening to feedback sessions, a location for the ASP was found to be available.  YELLS Afterschool began its journey at 861 Franklin Road, Building #2800.

 

A devoted apartment manager convinced her property owners to not only donate an entire house to our cause, but also help remodel it! When we first visited the building that would become the Afterschool Program at Las Colinas, later called Woodlands Park and now demolished, it was like looking at an abandoned cabin – there was a lot of work to be done. However, the location within a dynamic community provided us with all of the resources required to bring the space to life. After quickly incorporating and obtaining our 501(c)3 status, we were left with a quick Winter season of renovating this 3,500 sq ft home into a fully functioning site for youth. There was lots to be done, and when it came time to furnish the space, both my and Laura’s old furniture from our college days became quite handy, as well as countless trips to Ikea. I even took a stab at some art projects to decorate the walls!

The first semester of the ASP was run on a shoe-string budget, and except for two employees, community volunteers made up the staff for the program. I vividly remember spending many weekends repairing furniture, painting tables, and other mundane tasks at the site. These tedious tasks, long days, and late nights became a lot more interesting as kids started showing up to help. Within a few minutes of our cars showing up, the YELLS home was always full of neighborhood kids! We quickly saw how much a community Las Colinas was, and were amazed as community members would come by and offer to help out in any way possible to get the new Afterschool program ready for their neighborhood’s children.

The building of YELLS naturally built community on Franklin Road, and what we call the “YELLS Family” grew along with it. YELLS became a family affair for Laura and I as well. It was also during this semester that Laura and I found that our dog, Flyer, enjoyed going to YELLS as well, and subsequently became a ‘reading buddy’ to students during their academic time!

As YELLS’s first home, the Las Colinas location became a magnet for community interaction and engagement among neighbors due to the support and efforts of families who had been looking for a space to make their own on Franklin Road.