Feature

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Eric Cruz, 2014 Male Youth of the Year

Eric Cruz was just six years old when his father passed away. His mom was rarely around, so his dad had raised Eric and his two older sisters on his own, working as many as three jobs to provide for his family. Following his dad’s death, Eric and his sisters were adopted by their aunt and uncle. But even as life was moving back toward normalcy, Eric continued to struggle.

“I had always been a quiet kid, but in the midst of crisis, I retreated further into myself,” Eric recalled. “It was hard to get attached to anyone else. I was so afraid of getting hurt again.” For many years, Eric remained that quiet kid with few friends and even fewer meaningful connections with others.

Things didn’t begin to change for Eric until he was 13, when he was introduced to the Boys & Girls Club. “As I came to the Club more often, I got out of my box and started to interact with other Club members and began to make bonds which I was hesitant to do before,” Eric said. “I can honestly say that summer was the best summer I ever had with the staff and teens at the Sun Valley Teen Center.”

A few months later, Eric was invited to join Leaders in Training (LIT). As an LIT, Eric would volunteer his time at other Boys & Girls Club sites and assist staff with running programs for younger members. It even came with an opportunity to earn a paid position at the Club over the summer. The program clicked with Eric, and the once shy boy was now a leader and a mentor.

Today Eric is 17 and is one of the Club’s standout LITs. He has earned paid spots at the Club for each of the last three summers and is saving money from those paychecks to help with college next year. Eric has excelled in school as well. He is a senior at Coral Academy of Science and is in the top 15 of his class. Next fall, he plans to attend the University of Nevada where he will study to become an emergency services nurse.

Eric has come incredibly far in four short years, and he is quick to acknowledge what the Club has meant to him. “The Club has shown me that even the most difficult challenges in life are an opportunity for growth, and as I pursue my goals and dreams, I will never forget the role the Boys & Girls Club has played in my life.”

Nikita Cleveland, 2014 Female Youth of the Year

Nikita Cleveland’s earliest memories go back to her mom. After her parents split when she was a baby, it was Nikita’s mom who took over custody. Life with her mom meant moving around a lot as her mom moved from relationship to relationship. At times, they would live in shelters. The moves eventually brought them to

Texas, which is where Nikita’s younger brother was born. Deciding that it was too great of a financial burden to care for two children, Nikita’s mom brought fiveyear-old Nikita back to Reno to live with her dad.

“Once we got to Reno, we went straight from the bus station to the courthouse where a man was waiting,” Nikita remembers. “She told me that this man was my dad, and at first I was excited. But in the middle of my excitement, my mom walked away. I used to think she would come back for me one day, but she never came.”

The transition, however, came easily as life with her dad was wonderfully different than the instability to which Nikita was accustomed. They lived in one place, she attended one school, and she was nearby other family members. Not long after she arrived in Reno, her dad signed her up for the Boys & Girls Club.

Nikita jumped headfirst into the programs at the Boys & Girls Club. The outgoing little girl loved making new friends, doing her homework at the Club, participating in community service projects and having peers and mentors to help her navigate adolescence. “The Boys & Girls Club was part of the first stable environment I had ever had in my life,” Nikita said. “After my mom left, things seemed so uncertain. But now, my life was stable and consistent.”

Today, Nikita is a 17-year-old senior at Hug High School. She still comes to the Boys & Girls Club every day, now attending the Club on the Hug High campus. There, she finds academic support, help with the college application process and caring mentors that continue to positively influence her life. After graduation this spring, Nikita plans to attend college where she wants to earn her Master’s Degree and become a dental hygienist.

“Looking back at my past, I realized I could have taken a very different path,” Nikita said. “I could have chosen to be a victim of my circumstances or followed the negative path modeled by others in my life. But my dad and the Boys & Girls Club have inspired me to be so much more.”

“The Club has shown me that even the most difficult challenges in life are an opportunity for growth, and as I pursue my goals and dreams.”

Eric Cruz

by Lauren SouLam, GrantS Director