Joanne Glusman and partner Joan “JB” Bennett will both be off from work for two weeks this summer, but instead of packing their suitcases and heading out for a vacation, the couple will be helping a pair of teens unpack their bags for their own summer vacation.
Glusman and Bennett, who reside in Bryn Mawr, are in their fourth year as a host family for the Fresh Air Fund’s Friendly Town program, which allows youngsters from New York City whose families struggle with poverty to travel to homes throughout the Northeast for relaxing summer excursions.
The couple doesn’t have children of their own but, between the two of them, are aunts to 31 nieces and nephews, and Glusman serves as the president of the Main Line Youth Alliance, the first LGBT teen organization in the Western Philadelphia suburbs.
Glusman, a social worker who currently trains physicians and teaches in a physician-assistant program, said that about five years ago she and Bennett, a physician assistant, saw an advertisement in the Philadelphia Inquirer for a Fresh Air Fund informational meeting, and the couple jumped at the chance to give what they could for the program.
Glusman and Bennett, who’ve been together for 15 years, checked the organization’s website before their first meeting to evaluate how welcome LGBT families would be. After noticing a statement that the agency does not discriminate based on sexual orientation, they spoke with Fresh Air representatives at the meeting, who said there were no other same-sex couples in the region participating at the time, but that the couple would be a welcome addition to the organization.
“They were completely fine with it and very affirming, so we just said, ‘OK, sign us up,’” Glusman said.
In 2007, the pair was matched with Sintara, who was 10 at the time, and the following year also opened their doors to her older brother, Chadwyck. The siblings are now 13 and 14, respectively, and will be heading back to Bryn Mawr in July for their summer vacation.
Fresh Air organizes several outings for kids placed in the same areas and, in the past few years, Sintara and Chadwyck have participated in hip-hop classes, swim lessons and soccer programs, and Glusman and Bennett have also taken the kids bowling, to the Academy of Natural Sciences and to Reading Terminal Market.
“A lot of it is what families in this area might do on just a regular day in the summer,” Glusman said. “The idea is that you envelope the kids into your family for those two weeks and just do whatever’s normal. So there’s the routine stuff, but we also try to do some special things with them.”
Like the other Fresh Air kids, Sintara and Chadwyck hail from New York City, so even some of the more routine activities come as somewhat of a culture shock to them.
“There are things that we deal with just normally in the suburbs that they don’t see in the city. The first year when Sintara and I went outside one night, she grabbed onto my arm because she’d never seen a lightning bug before. She was just in awe,” Glusman said. “And it’s really dark out here compared to the city, and one night I was walking the dogs around the block and she came with me, and she said, ‘Aren’t you scared to be out here at night?’ and I said, ‘No, I’m not scared, because we have three dogs with us and you’re safe here.’ These kids come from a different culture, so you have to be prepared for that.”
Fresh Air aims to show the kids that they have the potential to rise above whatever circumstances they’ve grown up in, and Glusman said she and Bennett have tried to encourage Sintara and Chadwyck to recognize their own strengths.
When Sintara first came to stay with the couple, she was in summer school and in danger of failing third grade for a second time. Glusman and Bennett bought workbooks at a local teachers’ store and allotted a portion of each day for her to study.
“We call her ‘Math Girl’ now because she learned her times tables in such a short amount of time,” Glusman said. “All she needed was an adult who had the time to sit with her and help her to understand how to do the work.”
The couple has also seen growth in Chadwyck, who’s already started talking with them about where he’d like to go to college in the area.
During their last visit, Glusman and Chadwyck, who’s interested in theater, were singing “Seasons of Love” from “Rent.” And although the teen knew the song, he knew little about the play, so last month, the couple arranged a visit during which Glusman took Chadwyck to see the show at Media Theater.
Glusman said that while the agency strives to support the kids, it’s also been an enriching experience for her and Bennett.
“The goal of the program is to give these kids a different opportunity and a new environment, but it really is a two-way street; they’ve hopefully benefited from the experiences we’ve had, but we’ve gained an immeasurable amount as well,” Glusman said. “On our windowsill right now, there are three pictures: One is of JB and her mother, and the other two are of Chadwyck and Sintara. They’re part of us now, part of our family.”
Glusman and Bennett are serving as the co-chairs for the regional Friendly Town program this year, and said that, because of the economy, the agency has more children than host families and is eager for new participants.
Fresh Air Fund is still accepting applications for this summer’s program. For more information, visit www.freshair.org or e-mail Glusman at [email protected].
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].