Tutoring, college prep, high-level soccer. Where Lexington refugee students find a home. | Opinion

If you’ve been in downtown Lexington on a weekday, or if you’ve been at club soccer games around Central Kentucky, you might have seen a big, white Ford Econoline van. It’s a 2008 model, so it’s a little worn, but along its sides, there are inspirational word clouds– “courageous, dreamers, caring, beautiful.” If the van itself isn’t objectively beautiful, Box2Box, the local organization that has relied upon it, unquestionably is.

Box2Box was founded in 2018 by four Lexingtonians who came here as refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo when they were teenagers. They made a home here, becoming prolific high school soccer stars. Their mission was to help build a support system that could give other refugee and recently arrived immigrant students the opportunity to thrive in the community. Today, B2B (as they often call it) offers after-school tutoring, college prep, mentorship, and competitive club soccer to 60 students from all across Fayette County.

It might surprise some to learn that Kentucky has a strong track record of refugee resettlement. It led the nation in resettlement per capita in 2022. It’s brought a new type of diversity to Lexington. But resettlement isn’t easy. There are basic challenges like navigating school registration, finding jobs, and getting a driver’s license, but refugee kids —especially high schoolers — also find it tough to find their identity in a new community.

“We were lucky when we came here,” Philip Manga, Box2Box co-founder and current Director, says. “We had this big group of soccer parents who took us in and made sure we had what we needed.”

As he watched this demographic grow in Lexington, he realized that families needed help with some of the less obvious aspects of integration. Kids needed after-school engagement, they needed help with homework, they needed advice on navigating the ACT and college admissions. At home, their parents balanced work, multiple kids, and a language barrier. “Most of the families don’t speak English, so our kids are learning it and helping their families figure out appointments, utilities, groceries, while trying to figure it out themselves.”

One of the current students said that, when he moved to Lexington, he would see the B2B van pull up at his neighborhood park. “All these kids would pour out of it, big smiles on their faces, and they’d start playing pickup soccer,” he said. “My only thought was: I gotta get in that van.”

Perhaps most of all, they needed rides. Lexington is big enough where walking or biking to tutoring at the downtown Dunbar Center and soccer practice at Lexington Sporting Club’s complex isn’t possible for most kids, but it’s not big enough to have feasible public transportation. Lexington Sporting Club sponsored two club teams and offered their state-of-the-art facilities, but the kids still had to get there. That’s where the trusty Econoline came in, along with a handful of dedicated volunteers, to bring kids to sessions and get them home. Between tutoring, soccer, and dropping everyone off, Manga’s days sometimes end at 10 or 11 pm.

These late nights of studying and soccer have paid off big for Box2Box alumni. More than 30 alumni have gone on to college and several are now launching careers in Central Kentucky. Cheal Kizrawa graduated from Midway University last spring and is an area manager with Amazon now. “Box2Box helps prepare you for your future self. A lot of people go to college without direction or a sense of why they’re there,” he says, “Box2Box helped me to figure out why I was there.” Asked if he plans to stay in Lexington, Kizrawa replies, “Absolutely, 100%. want to have a career here and be part of the community. Deep down, I know without B2B, I wouldn’t be where I am. It’s the truth. It’s not just something I say.”

The van broke down two weeks ago, but they’ve lined up a new one, thanks to the generosity of Robert Gosser of Corbin, who heard about the group on WLEX-18. The group is still taking donations now through its website (http://box2box.space/) so it can get the new van up and running.

“The van is how we get around but it’s a lot more than that, it’s a symbol for us,” one of the students told me. “Even when you don’t look the best, feel the best, it’s important that you show up and get the job done. That’s our van, that’s what we try to do in B2B.”

Graham Cornwell is a writer, historian, and Lexington native. He runs Orangerie with his wife Judy; they live in Lexington with their two kids.