The guest speaker at the Kingston North Kitsap Rotary Club Sep 14 meeting came from just down the hall at Village Green Community Center: Chelsea Tate, Kingston Boys and Girls Club
Tate focused a good deal of her talk on the subject of ACE - Adverse Childhood Experience. With a range of questions about experiences in and out of the childhood home, as well as family history, ACE is a predictor of later-in-life issues as adults. While the kids in the Boys and Girls Club are not ACE-tested, the Club is sensitive to issues at home the kids bring to their experiences while at the Club, including "fight or flight." Tate said "the Boys and Girls Club staff works to pile on support after support after support, to balance negative issues going on in the kids' lives."
The Boys and Girls Club membership is back to pre-Covid levels, with 45 kids in the morning and afternoon sessions; this past summer they served 75 daily.
The local Club is part of the Snohomish County B&G Club organization; it serves the north end of Kitsap County. Its support comes from monthly membership fees, the State's DSHS, its annual auction, and contributions from individuals and organizations, including a grant from Kingston North Kitsap Rotary Club.