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Bernadette Souza loved her childhood growing up in New Bedford. She played in the dirt and rode her bike. She climbed trees and jumped in the leaves. And when she became an adult, she wanted to give the youth of the city a similar experience.
For 14 years, as executive director of Youth Opportunities Unlimited — a nonprofit youth organization — she’s done exactly that.
Y.O.U., located in a brick building on Brock Avenue in New Bedford’s South End, is about a five-minute walk from the beaches along the eastern border of the city’s peninsula. It’s a space where kids can open up and relax, or “drop that backpack,” as Souza said.
“They get to be a kid,” Souza said. “They get to feel what it’s like to get on a bike and ride — ride along this beautiful, beautiful view of our beaches.”
At Y.O.U., the participants, whose ages range from 9 to 14, are offered activities from biking and kayaking to exploring local areas and learning about animals. The program also aims to build their confidence, foster adventure and show them how to overcome challenges, Souza said.
Y.O.U. has six core programs: Food for Thought (a cooking program), Winter Discoveries, Bicycle Maintenance and Repair, Read and Ride, Urban Explorers, and Explore Your Environment. It also usually has a three-week Learn to Ride biking program in September. Programming focuses on learning, fostering life skills and building relationships in a safe and welcoming environment, according to Y.O.U.’s leaders.
“It’s a little undiscovered gem here in New Bedford,” said Nathan Pierce, whose oldest child just finished the Winter Discoveries program and whose youngest completed the Learn to Ride biking program.
A day at Y.O.U.
It’s about 2:45 p.m., and the front door to Y.O.U.’s brick building swings open. With an excited yell, a group of kids stampede in. They rush to the bathroom, wash their hands, then line up, plates in hand, at a table full of food: bowls and trays of fruit, vegetables, popcorn, pancakes, eggs and cheese.
As the kids feast, a team of staff members inquires about their day. Around the room are tanks and cages, home to various critters from turtles to a bunny.
About 30 minutes later, they finish eating, wash up and form a circle in the center of the room around a Mass Audubon representative, who teaches them about animals. They pass around a deer jaw, a snake skin and an antler. One group reclines in camping chairs with notebooks while one kid imitates a sea lion for the group — an antic that is met with laughter.
After this, the group heads outside. Workers dole out coats, gloves and hats, so the group can bundle up on this late March day. They walk to the beach in a blob vaguely resembling a line. There, they skip stones on the water, run along the beach and climb on the nearby rocks. Some kids crowd together while others go off on their own, always with a guide trailing nearby.
These children are just one group out of six that have been coming to Y.O.U. for after-school programming.
How it works
Y.O.U. operates after school and during the summer. It also occasionally takes kids on “adventure trips” during school vacations or on weekends, said Carrie Hawthorne, director of operations and programs.
Most of Y.O.U.’s activities are student-interest-led, said Lilli Condez, marketing and communications manager. They provide some basic structure and introduce participants to a new topic, and then let them explore it.
“They appreciate that they get to have a say in what they do,” Hawthorne said. “And so each group gravitates towards different things.”
Groups include 12 to 14 kids, to maintain a participant-to-guide ratio of 3 to 1. That allows guides to fully focus on each child, especially if one might be having a bad day, Souza said.
“When [they] trust us, they’re more likely to ask us questions, more likely to share their passions and their interests,” Condez said.
Programming is free, except the summer program, where participants have the option to pay. The organization is largely funded by a federal grant program, other grants, foundations and individual giving, according to Hawthorne. Most participants are in elementary or middle school and come from low-to-moderate income families, according to Y.O.U.’s website.
Barthine Romelus, a New Bedford resident whose younger son is enrolled in the Spring Urban Explorers program, said her children try to recreate what they’ve learned at Y.O.U.
Hawthorne said that’s an important part of the program.
“If we’re taking them somewhere, we try to make sure there are options for them to do that with their families that is low-cost or [with] very little barriers to do it,” Hawthorne said.
Families’ experiences
Romelus, Pierce, and Pierce’s wife, Ofelia, described their kids’ experiences with Y.O.U. as personable, engaging and meaningful. Pierce pointed out the staff’s accessibility and attentiveness and commended the relationships they form with the kids.
Romelus’ older son, Gabriel, works as a junior guide, a position for former Y.O.U. participants to work as a staff member and mentor. He said when he first enrolled in Y.O.U. he didn’t want to go but that quickly changed.
“If you can get kids to want to keep coming back every single time, that speaks volumes for how well they’re doing,” Pierce said.
Marcus Coward, a lead guide, said the kids look forward to Y.O.U. because they know their day will end in “fun exploration.”
“It’s not school, and it’s not as structured,” Coward said. “There’s a lot of new and cool stuff, and we have animals.”
Ofelia Pierce said her son learned to ride a bike in one afternoon after “a year of struggling at home.” She said her other son participated in the Food for Thought cooking program — which he didn’t think he was going to like, but ended up enjoying. He also just completed Y.O.U.’s Friday afternoon Winter Discoveries program.
Y.O.U. also hosts a community group for homeschool students and for former participants who have aged out of the after-school program. It meets once a week on Friday afternoons.
After recently purchasing a second building, Y.O.U. aims to increase its after-school programming enrollment. Souza hopes this expansion includes sixth through eighth graders; the program currently only serves this age group during the summer.
The organization also added a Y.O.U. bus, to make it easier and less expensive to get more kids to the program more often.
Romelus and the Pierces said their one piece of advice for parents considering enrolling their kids is: do it.
“The kids will absolutely thrive,” Nathan Pierce said.
Crystal Yormick is a Boston University journalism student and a frequent contributor to The New Bedford Light. Email her at cyormick@newbedfordlight.org.
Editor’s note: Bernadette Souza is a member of The New Bedford Light’s Advisory Committee. The Light’s newsroom is scrupulously independent. Only the editors decide what to cover and what to publish. Founders, funders and board or advisory members have no influence over editorial content.