Joliet mayor, Will County state’s attorney help Joliet Boys and Girls Club pool

It’s expensive to operate and maintain the 12-foot, Olympic-sized pool at the Boys and Girls Club of Joliet.

So Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow and Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy each donated $10,000 toward that end. Although D’Arcy insisted he didn’t donate to the club – he invested in it. D’Arcy said every child should have the opportunity to learn to swim. So that pool should be “up and running all the time for them,” he added.

“I believe in what they are doing, so it’s not hard to get involved,” D’Arcy said.

Chantel Gamboa, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Joliet, is thankful for the donations. This enables the students to take part in safety programs and swimming lessons. Gamboa said many families can’t provide those opportunities.

The club pool, along with classes provided by the Greater Joliet YMCA, removes those barriers.

“So it’s imperative that our pool is operating for our kids, for our club members,” Gamboa said.

“They key to all of this is, if you give kids a good home, a good environment and good parents, then the rest will take care of itself. But these kids live in very different situations many times. So having this outlet to go to the pool, have fun for the day, get educational opportunities there, keeps them off the street. And then that opens up doors for them down the road.”

—  Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow

The club needs one lifeguard per 20 students, so at least four are needed, Gamboa said, adding that the club pays its lifeguards $17 an hour for about 25 hours per week. The club also pays for each lifeguard’s American Red Cross certification, she said.

In addition to lifeguards, the club is seeking three to four pool attendants. The pool is typically open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. June 10 through Aug. 9. But Gamboa said she’d like to extend the swimming hours for the adolescents. And she’d also like to keep the pool open to mid-October.

And all that takes money.

Gamboa said the chemicals for the pool cost about $4,000 and the water cost is about $2,500 per month. Upgrades for the pool will cost $5,000.

“The biggest thing is ensuring we continue to update and ensuring what we’re providing is safe for our kids when they’re with us,” Gamboa said.

Albert Bailey, the information technology specialist for the Will County State’s Attorney’s office for the past nine years, said he built endurance and confidence by swimming in that pool. Bailey joined the Boys and Girls Club of Joliet when he was 13 and remained in the club through high school.

Bailey said he even remembered when the pool had a “high dive” – and how students had to complete their homework before they could use the pool. He said youth living in Joliet’s East or South side didn’t have the transportation to access other pools in Joliet.

“But we could go swimming [at the club] in the mornings or afternoons and they would watch over us,” Bailey said.

Glasgow said the pool helps kids build their self-esteem, confidence and networks of people who will “help them succeed later on in life.” It will help them “win the Lotto,” Glasgow said, which is how he describes his own path to success when he lived at St. Vincent’s Orphanage in Chicago.

“I won the Lotto with my adoptive parents,” Glasgow said. “They took care of me and gave me everything I needed. When I was 5 years old, they told me I was going to college. I had no idea what that meant, but it came to fruition.”

Glasgow, who said he was a “shy, introverted kid,” participated in the Joliet Country Club swim team. During his teen years, Glasgow spent his summers eating, swimming and golfing for free at the Joliet Country Club because of his parents, he said.

He said his parents were always there for him no matter what he did. That type of security builds a solid foundation for youth, he said. Glasgow said if he’d never been successful if he lacked that continuity, if he’d had an unstable home life or was bounced from foster home to foster home.

Because “we see what happens to kids when they don’t have that,” Glasgow said

“They key to all of this is, if you give kids a good home, a good environment and good parents, then the rest will take care of itself,” Glasgow said. “But these kids live in very different situations many times. So having this outlet to go to the pool, have fun for the day, get educational opportunities there, keeps them off the street. And then that opens up doors for them down the road.”

Glasgow and D’Arcy also donated a 15-passenger van to the club a few years ago because “the engine blew up” in their previous vehicle. Glasgow called that van purchase “divine intervention.”

“That van will help get some of these kids to the building to use the pool,” Glasgow said. “Because many of the kids, because of poverty, don’t have the ability to get there.”