[B]URLINGTON – Mary Alice McKenzie’s favorite moments at the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington are when she sees a child experience pure joy: kids learning to swim in the summer, showing her a stellar report card, or when she attends a college graduation.
After playing a role in the lives of hundreds of young people for the past decade, McKenzie announced Tuesday that she is stepping down as the club’s executive director.
“I believe that the time to transition leadership is when things are strong,” McKenzie said. “I felt deeply in love with this place from day one, but I also said that I’m going to do all that I can to make this thing strong and then leave.”
The Boys and Girls Club offers a variety of year-round programming for Burlington youth out of three Old North End locations. More than 250 kids come to the club each day for food, tutoring and mentoring. The organization started in the city in 1942.
The club takes many measures to prevent barriers to participation. Membership is $5 a year, and no one is turned away for inability to pay. Buses pick up kids around Burlington to take them to the center and back home.
McKenzie grew up in Burlington, left to attend law school, and began practicing in Chicago. She moved back to Vermont and worked as general counsel of the Vermont State Colleges, chair of Central Vermont Public Service Corp. and CEO of McKenzie of Vermont, before joining the club.
“What I realized was lacking in my life was a real sense of purpose,” McKenzie said. “At that same time, I saw an ad (for the position) in the paper, and decided that this what what I wanted to do.”
Things have changed over the years. Initially the club accepted only boys, but girls were welcomed when McKenzie served on the board in the 1990s. She has worked with her staff to tackle challenges facing children.
“We took a look around at our club kids and realized that no one was going on after high school — zero,” she said.
The program now has 25 students attending college, four graduates and several on the path to commencement next spring.
Tanasia McGee is a former club member who graduated from the Community College of Vermont last spring. She now works as the lead staff member for children ages 5 to 8. McGee said McKenzie’s support was instrumental to her success in college, from providing rides to attending graduation.
“They took me in as family, and now I’m working for them, which is awesome,” she said.
McKenzie and her staff have also started to launch an individualized program to help kids with trauma. They aim to create a point of stability for those who have issues at home like addiction, or who are homeless.
She sees childhood poverty increasing in the area, and cites the high cost of living in Vermont as a factor. One of the club’s biggest steps to address economic challenges under her leadership came after the recession of 2008.
“We really saw the number of kids coming to the club saying, ‘I don’t have enough food at home, I’m hungry,’” McKenzie said. “It really spiked.”
The Boys and Girls Club partnered with Doug Davis, the Burlington School District’s food service director, to provide dinners at the center. The organization now serves 25,000 meals a year.
“We’re going to feel the effects for a long, long time.” McKenzie said. “It’s very hard to see the impact on children.”
About five years ago, Boys and Girls Club staff began noticing a considerable amount of visible drug dealing in Roosevelt Park, just across from their Oak Street location. Younger kids began saying they were scared to walk home, and some were reporting to staff that they had been offered money or clothing to assist in deals.
McKenzie decided to assemble a task force of law enforcement officials, social workers and other stakeholders to discuss gang-related activity in Burlington. People didn’t want to talk and the effort was ultimately unsuccessful.
“Some people didn’t see it. People didn’t believe it existed,” McKenzie said of the problem.
The staff’s next approach was to expand services and activity in the park. They approached Mayor Miro Weinberger for use of an old storage building. The structure, which he provided, is now covered with vibrant murals and serves as an academic center for the Boys and Girls Club.
Staff also held discussions with club members about avoiding drug dealers. While drug dealing has not decreased in the city, the presence in the park has subsided.
McKenzie decided to step down after determining that the club has a strong board, engaged staff, clear and supported mission, and a good successor for her position. She will begin looking for another job, which will most likely be different, after assisting with the transition.
Tanya Benosky, the club’s director of development and communication, will be replacing McKenzie this month. She initially joined the organization as finance director in 2008.
Benosky, an accountant, has worked as a tax manager, a budget officer for Harvard University, and ran her own consulting business before joining the club.
“There’s no other work I’d rather be doing right now,” Benosky said.