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Robert A. Mendes, chief professional officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater New Bedford, will tell you he has been employed there for three-quarters of his life, but at the same time has “never worked a day in my life.”
If you count his time as a member, Mendes’ connection to the club spans a remarkable 57 years, and his passion for its mission still burns brightly.
Mendes grew up in New Bedford, one of five sons of Antone and Julia Mendes. He now resides in the North End, and his daughter lives in the home on Hillman Street where he grew up. It was when his family moved there from the Bay Village housing project that he joined the club at age 10.
Mendes was educated at T.A. Green and Rodman elementary schools, Keith Junior High School, and New Bedford High, followed by studies at Bristol Community College. But in some ways, it was at the club that he learned the most important life lessons.
The Boys & Girls Club of Greater New Bedford follows the mission statement of the national organization: “To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.”
To that end, the club offers activities that range far beyond athletics to technology, the arts, academic assistance, and healthy lifestyles while providing adult mentorship. The social and emotional support the club provides has become all the more important since the COVID pandemic.
The seed that grew to Boys & Girls Club of America was planted in 1860 when four women in Hartford, Connecticut, began a club to keep boys off the street and out of trouble, to engage their interests and build their character. The Greater New Bedford club, established in 1870 as The Union for Good Works, and later affiliated with the national movement, is the third oldest in the United States. (The union’s building at Pleasant and Market streets later became part of the former Standard-Times building.)
The club serves members 7 to 18, and dues are a minimal $50 a year, though no child is turned away due to an inability to pay, Mendes said. A summer program is offered at additional cost.
Membership was about 1,200 before the COVID pandemic, when it took a major hit (as did organizations everywhere), but Mendes said the numbers are steadily rebounding, standing at about 700 today.
The club, supported by numerous sponsors, grants, and individual donors, has a full-time staff of five, and 10 to 20 part-timers depending on the season, as well as dedicated volunteers.
Mendes took his steps towards a leadership role as a teen, helping out in the gym and organizing basketball leagues for younger kids. He worked his way up through the ranks from basketball coach (which he has continued for decades) to physical director, program director, and now executive director/chief professional officer. Aside from an early year or so in quality control at the Vanity Fair garment factory in the North End, his entire work life has been devoted to the Boys & Girls Club.
Mendes also finds time to chair the Greater New Bedford Youth Alliance as well as serve other community organizations.
In this conversation with the Light, Mendes talks about his beginnings at the Boys & Girls Club, how it helps shape young people, and his outlook on the future.
New Bedford Light: Did you grow up in the city?
Robert Mendes: I was born and raised in New Bedford. I grew up in the South End, in the Bay Village public housing, and at the age of 10, my parents bought a home two blocks down (from the club) on Hillman Street. And that started my journey at the Boys & Girls Club, and I haven’t left since (1967) …
My dad was a longshoreman, and my mother did some domestic work in the city, and they accomplished the American dream of buying their own home for their family. …
There was an incident back when we were first moving into the neighborhood. There was a neighbor across the street on our first day of moving in who came out and kind of confronted us and said we didn’t belong parked in front of his house. There was sort of a little racial overtone, and my mom, being who she was, standing up and protecting her cubs, addressed it. …
I remember like it was yesterday. We were ready to unload the U-Haul. My mom just put the gate down on the U-Haul and shut it and said to me and my older brother, “You get in the car.” And I remember crying because I thought “We’re going back to the projects, I never got to sleep in the house” (laughing). …
(She) drove right up to here to the Boys Club and walked us both in here and said, “I want to register my kids to be members of the club, but before I do, I want to be assured that they’re going to be safe here.” And I remember (Norman) “Micki” Dyer and Jim Sumner, who were the program director and executive director at the time, said, “You don’t have to worry about it. The club is all inclusive: We don’t care who you are, what color, where you came from, what your money status is. Everybody who walks through the door, they’re treated equally.” And she said, “That’s all I need to hear.” She registered us and turned to me and my brother and said, “You will be here every day after school if I’m not home.”
NBL: Tell me about the impact being a member had on you.
RM: I think what was great about the club, and what inspired me to be here today and continue were the values that they, not demanded of us, but required of us to be here and be a part of this great organization.
I grew up in an era when respect was No. 1, and being kind to your fellow man, and appreciation and accountability. So when I took over, those were some of the values I took from home, but they were also the values I experienced when I was here at the club. … As time evolves, and you get into technology and things of that nature, things have changed with kids. But I always tell my staff that the core values are something we will continue to have as long as I sit in this chair. …
What I loved most about the club was the people that I met, coming here from all walks of life. It wasn’t just New Bedford kids, it was kids from Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Rochester, and Freetown. I met people that I probably would have never known in my life, and have become good friends, lifelong friends.
And then I also look at what the club provided (for) a lot of my friends that weren’t as fortunate as me to have two parents in the home. A lot of kids that came here were from single-parent families and the Boys & Girls Club was sort of the safe harbor or sometimes the father figure for kids who didn’t have that. The staff really embraced everybody and made you feel like family.
I think that’s what they gave to me, just inspired me to give back to others. So now when I’m out there looking at kids and seeing their situation, it kind of hearkens back to the days when I came in and said, “Hey, I remember my friend not having some of the things that I had.” But when we got to the Boys & Girls Club, it didn’t matter where you were at. Once you got in these doors, we were all on a level playing field and you were judged for your character and how you were, rather than what status you came from. So that was always the driving force for me. And until this day I try to instill those values when the kids come through the door. It’s the underlying theme for all the programs and services we run here.
Over the years, somebody would turn around and say “Boys & Girls Club,” and the next words out of their mouth would be “Robbie Mendes.” Somebody (else) would say “Robbie Mendes,” and the next words out of their mouth would be “Boys & Girls Club.” And I used to say, (laughing) “Well, I don’t even have an identity. I’m just the Boys & Girls Club” — which wasn’t a bad thing. It’s something that I take great pride in … But I remind myself and others that as the leader of this organization, you’re only as good as the people who work for you. … Over the years, I’ve had a great team of people working here, and it’s not just “Robbie Mendes,” it’s everybody collectively.
NBL: The offerings have expanded over the decades since you were a youngster. What do you think is the most important change?
RM: Well, I think originally, and this was true for me … you came here (to) play basketball. You played some sports, you went to the game room and shot some pool. Back then we had a bowling alley downstairs, and a little woodworking shop.
But as time went on, the needs of kids changed. So when I became the program director, we started incorporating some (different) programs, and then when I became executive director, I started looking at it from a more holistic approach. My thought was, not every kid that comes through this door wants to play basketball. Some of them don’t want to shoot pool. Some of them are looking for other things, and we’ve got to find out what their comfort level is and be able to offer them something that makes them want to come back.
And we always wanted to address the issue of academic attainment. So I incorporated the Power Hour program, which is an academic tutorial assistance program. For an hour a day when the kids get here after school, they go into the homework room. That’s why we partnered with UMass Dartmouth, with the America Reads program, so we would get college students down here who would tutor. … (Our data showed) that we had a 98% graduation rate from grade-to-grade of our members at the club.
(We’ve got computer) technology and we have really gotten robust in the arts, drawing and music. …. So now when a kid walks through the door, there is a wide variety of opportunities for them to engage in. … I think we’ve really expanded on the programs we brought into the organization over the years, which I think has been the catalyst for the growth in the membership. What we kind of hang our hat on is retention of members. We’ve got a kid who starts here at 7 years of age and at 14 he’s still here. For seven years in a row he’s coming in, and that’s helped us to help him — or her — build a foundation and have the tools that when they go off into the world, they’ve got a little bit of a support system.
In the hallway, all those plaques on the wall are (club) alumni who have gone off to college and graduated and then on the other side are kids who are currently in college. So we always tell our members, “Your job is to get up on that wall, and then jump over to the other side.”
NBL: How do you address the social and emotional support that youngsters need post-COVID?
RM: Prior to COVID, we saw the happy-go-lucky kid. The kid who left you when COVID started, when he came back, wasn’t the same kid. …
So when they came back, it was a tough transition for the kids and for us as a staff. It wasn’t as much focus on the (programs). It was the emotional stuff. It was getting your staff … to transition into listening more as to what these kids’ problems are and what they’re dealing with. Just providing an ear, a place for them to kind of unload and just provide positive feedback, helping them attain educational accomplishments … It was almost like rebuilding self esteem. So they were kind of faced with some difficult challenges, and those are still here today.
NBL: I saw on the website that many alumni go on to achieve personal and professional success. What do they tell you about how the club experience influenced them?
RM: Many of them come back … and say the club started the foundation for where they are today. That’s really amazing, and it’s a proud feeling for all of us here at the club — the staff, and the board, and the members alike. … Many of our kids have gone on to become professional athletes or doctors or lawyers, and it’s with a great sense of pride when you hear them say it all started here at the Boys & Girls Club, and we’re just so grateful for it.
NBL: What are you most proud of achieving?
RM: The thing I’m proudest of, I think, is the relationships that I’ve developed over the years, not only with kids, but with parents. It’s kind of scary that you were here as a kid and now … I have a kid playing (basketball) for me and then his father played for me prior to that, and then, this past year, it was a grandfather played for me. And the kids just don’t believe it. “My father played for you?” And I said, “Yeah, and he was pretty good, too.” So, I think the proudest thing is probably the connections and friendships and the support of people in the community … You want to say hey, it was worth going out and talking to them and showing them the need that we have here as an organization, and most importantly, the results: We can back it up — we just don’t talk the talk, we walk the walk.
NBL: I understand that you were grand marshal of the Cape Verdean Recognition Parade. How did you feel about being chosen?
RM: It was in 2009. It was unexpected and not something that I had looked for, but it was quite an honor to do it, to have it bestowed upon me. I always looked at it, and as somebody said, “If you love what you do at your job, it’s not work.” So I always look at it that I’ve been (employed) at the club for 43 years and never worked a day in my life. … I’m not one for accepting awards and things of that nature. I do it because it needs to be done or it’s something I believe in. But it was a great honor to be recognized for doing what you do, and not doing it for the recognition.
NBL: I see your golf bag back in the corner. Do you have any plans to retire?
RM: It’s been a long ride, and everyone says, “When are you going to retire?” … I have a vision of where I want the organization to be, and we’re 90% there. … One of the most difficult things is handing it over to somebody else and hoping that they’re going to run it the way you want. But you also have to understand that it’s not always going to be the way you want it or the way you did it. …
I ran into Gary Schuyler, who used to run the Y, and he’s retired. He said, “Are you still at the boys club?” and I said yes. “Oh my God, you’re a dinosaur.” (laughing)
Everybody asks, “When are you going to leave?” and I say, “I’m leaving when it becomes a job.” It’s still not a job. And I’m still having fun.
Joanna McQuillan Weeks is a freelance writer and frequent correspondent for The New Bedford Light.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Coming up March 22 is the 29th annual Rick Jalbert All-Star Basketball Challenge, featuring 48 boys and girls high school all-star basketball players from the Southcoast and Southeast conferences. Proceeds benefit the programs of the Boys & Girls Club.
To learn more about the club, visit bgcnewbedford.org
Congratulations Robbie Mendes and Marlowe Tavares