All children need to know how valuable they are, says Lorraine Wilson.
“We need to mentor kids, teach them, embrace them and let them know their self-worth and that they can be any and everything,” said the director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Delta’s Greenwood Unit.
Wilson became the interim director in March after the former director, Synthia Hoover, was promoted to an administrative position within the organization. Wilson was selected as the permanent director beginning June 1.
“I was humbled by, open to and welcomed this opportunity to make a difference in this community for our children,” she said.
Wilson said the goal of the Boys & Girls Club is to provide a safe haven for children.
“A safe place for them to go and be at, and the parents know that their children are safe,” she said. “A safe place to come and make friends, to learn things about life and also career goals. ... We help them to become better citizens and teach them about community service.”
Wilson, 64, is a native of Detroit. She is married to Frank Wilson, and the couple lived in Detroit until 2010, when they relocated to Greenwood.
Frank Wilson, a native of Money, wanted to come back home to Mississippi. The Wilsons often made trips to the area to visit family, so Lorraine Wilson was familiar with Greenwood.
“It was a little bit of a change,” said Wilson. “With me being older, it was a welcomed change because I wanted that smaller-town feel and not the big-city life.”
She was ready for retirement. However, shortly after moving to Mississippi, “God had a different purpose for us,” Wilson said.
They adopted their two youngest grandsons in 2013 and began raising them in Greenwood.
With her grandsons adjusting to moving from Detroit and with the Wilsons being older, Lorraine Wilson wanted a place for her grandsons to be around their peers and people closer to their age. The Boys & Girls Club on Carrollton Avenue became that place.
“So finally, the kids started going and loved it,” said Wilson. “I cannot stress enough how much it did for my grandsons. When they needed a place to go to when they felt out of place moving from Detroit to Greenwood, this was a perfect place for them.”
Wilson’s older grandson, Kalietre Wilson, won the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Delta’s Youth of the Year award in 2019 and 2020. In 2020, he placed second in the state for the Youth of the Year award.
Kalietre Wilson, 19, is a graduate of Greenwood High School. He was in the Upward Bound program at Mississippi Valley State University.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve and currently works at Walmart. He continues to go to the Boys & Girls Club on a regular basis, but now as a volunteer.
Wilson’s younger grandson is Nickalos Wilson, 16, who will soon begin attending Greenwood High School. He is interested in graphic design and is a great artist, his grandmother said.
Lorraine Wilson said she is appreciative of Hoover, who “saw the potential in my grandsons” and mentored them.
She’s also thankful to the Greenwood unit’s program coordinator, LaJuan Gilliam, for his mentorship.
She said Hoover and Gilliam “have been instrumental with the children in Greenwood.”
Last year, Wilson retired from her job in customer service.
The previous director asked her if she’d like to work at the club as a program aide and help with paperwork.
“I already knew as a parent outside what they do to enrich my children, but to be a part of the club and to see what they did, it was awesome,” said Wilson.
As a member of the staff and now as the director, she wants to pass that experience that her grandsons had at the club on to another parent’s child.
Wilson wants every child who comes to the Boys & Girls Club to “know that you are worthy of love and you can do greatness in the world if you just apply yourself.”
The Boys & Girls Club is holding all-day summer programming for children ages 6 to 18. The summertime activities include access to enrichment programs in math, literacy and science, sports and games, healthy meals and snacks, STEM activities, computer labs, arts and crafts, Bible and music classes, and teen centers.
“I see the difference we are making with the kids. That is so wonderful for me,” Wilson said. “We need this in this community; we need this in America.”
She enjoys her work at the Boys & Girls Club and how the children are embracing her.
“It’s just been a wonderful experience that I hope I will continue to experience for many years, to make a difference in someone’s child’s life,” she said.
-Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7235 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
