We Know We Can Always Come Home

Wherever life’s road leads, there’s comfort in knowing you can always come home. Many Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford alumni say no matter where their life takes them, they know they can always come home to Hartford. 

With the renovation and reopening of the Joseph D. Lapenta Northwest Boys & Girls Club, many are making the trip back to see the changes. One of those alumni is Isaiah Graham. 

On his tour of the Club, he marveled at the open windows where there was once only brick. He smiled at the members gathered in the space overlooking the gym instead of huddling on the stairs in the doorway to watch basketball. But the thing that impressed him most was the number of drinking fountains and water bottle filling stations located throughout the building. “We used to count to five and that’s how long you got to drink, there were so many kids waiting,” he recalled with a chuckle. 

Graham started at the JDL Northwest Club in the mid-90s when he was 5 years old. He said, growing up on Granby Street, the Club was a landmark and kids would stream down the hill from Mark Twain Elementary after school. 

“The Club was a home away from home. I was lucky to have both parents at home, but the Club really filled the time between school and home. That’s when it had the biggest impact,” he said. 

He was a member of the Club until he graduated high school and then worked at several Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford locations in the summers during college. Now, he’s a manager at Voya. He credits much of his success to his time at the Boys & Girls Club. 

“I was the JDL Northwest Youth of the Year and on judging night I met Lisa Boyle from Robinson+Cole. She was able to connect me with an internship at Robinson+Cole the summer after I graduated high school,” Graham said. “I’m still in contact with Lisa today. I know I can always reach out to her for advice or help.” 

Graham says that’s the most powerful thing the Club gave him – the ability to ask questions, advocate for himself and make connections. 

“I’m always proud to say I’m a Club kid. Whether it’s at work or networking events, I tell everyone the Club made me who I am,” he said. “The Club gives you connections beyond your hometown. I’m in Georgia now and I know that I could always reach out and get connected to the Club network here. Wherever I go, the Club will be with me.”

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2025 edition of Be Greater Magazine. To read the full issue, click below.