Have you met Carleen? If you haven’t, you should. Carleen Colin joined the West End House Boys and Girls Club family in August of 2015. This month marks her four year anniversary with the organization. Carleen began her West End House career as an AmeriCorps Massachusetts Promise Fellow (MPF). It didn’t take long though for both Carleen and the Club to latch on to one another and hold on tight. As a MA Promise Fellow, Carleen facilitated a group for girls grades 1-8 in partnership with the Jackson Mann School. She also co-facilitated Homework Power Hour for the Club’s middle school aged youth. In addition, she was an active participant in MPF youth development, social justice, and behavior management trainings.
After completing her second year as a MPF and first year as one with West End House, Carleen continued on at West End House in the capacity of Career Development and Employment Specialist. Her responsibilities include, managing and facilitating both the Peer Leaders, a youth employment program offering real-world, practical work experience directly in West End House programs each day and Torch Club, a character and leadership club for youth ages 11 to 13, as well as the Youth Workforce, a pre-employment job readiness program that trains young teens (ages 14-15) to develop skills sought by employers—consistency, professionalism, initiative, problem solving, and teamwork.
In addition, Carleen organizes personal and professional career development workshops and programs for all the teens of West End House and you can still find her co-facilitating Homework Power Hour for the clubs middle school aged youth. Carleen enjoys providing life skills activities that aid in developing and fostering the talents that the youth already possess. One of her favorite parts of her job is watching the young people of West End House mature and develop and she is so happy and proud to be a part of the process. She enjoys interacting with youth of all ages and seeing their unique personalities and strengths. As Carleen continues her work at West End House she looks forward to watching the Peer Leader program grow, as well as the number of teens who attend the Club.
If you ask Carleen what makes West End House special, her response is “Anyone who enters West End House leaves with a pure sense of belonging. Within these walls is a place that fosters excellence and acceptance. It’s truly a place that everyone can call home.” Carleen has always enjoyed bringing her own flame to light up lives in her work and personal life. She speaks fluent Haitian Creole and conversational French.
Thank you Carleen for being such an integral part of the West End House family and community!
