Avianna has been a Club member since 2012 and credits the Club with helping develop her passion for music, leadership, confidence, and academic success. According to Avianna, staff at the Mary Markquart Center have continued to support her and helped her to be confident in every challenge that she encounters. “Because of the Boys & Girls Club, I know who I am, they gave me hope when I felt I had nothing left. They made me who I am today and I can now take actions with my future and give back to the community and the Club.”

Avianna’s vision for youth is to have resources available to teens to have the skill sets needed to be successful in their adult lives. Avianna’s leadership and hard work allowed her to create a club within her school to ensure teens in her school could have access to structured programming and resources the Boys & Girls Club could offer. She wants to ensure that others will have the same guidance and opportunities that she was able to get to succeed in the future.

Through programs such as Healthy Habits, Career Launch, Keystone, and Junior Staff, Avianna is able to learn skills to help kids like her to succeed in school, at home, and in the community. “The Club is the best place to gain skills to becoming a successful adult, I wanted more teens to be aware of these opportunities. Without these skills, it would be very difficult to make a difference in the world, the Club has made these opportunities available to create security in our future.”

Avianna would like to go to school for Psychology and become a psychiatrist to help others grow and succeed as well as give back to the community.