Carver at 80: Where Evansville’s Kids Became Leaders

At Bally’s, former “Carver kids” reflect on how one community center shaped their lives and the city.

By Serita Cabell

On Saturday, November 1, I had the privilege of joining Carver Community Organization in celebrating its 80th anniversary at Bally’s Casino in Evansville. As a former Carver employee and a friend of the new executive director, Deiona Clayton, it felt less like a formal event and more like coming home. You could sense it in the room—the way people greeted each other, the way stories started with, “Do you remember when…?”

What moved me most that evening wasn’t the decorations or the program, but the testimonies. Former “Carver kids” stood up and reminded us of what this organization has meant to families across generations.

At just 26, Ariah Leary talked about how Carver cared for her and her siblings when they were young: providing a safe place after school, food when things were tight, and adults who stayed in her corner. She laughed about the summer she rode her bike to her first job at Carver, and how often she went back to former Executive Director David Wagner asking for references and guidance. Today, she serves in Mayor Stephanie Terry’s administration, helping lead community outreach. Her journey from Carver’s doors to City Hall is not an accident; it’s the result of steady care and opportunity over time.

Sisters Sondra and Claudia Matthews traced that same impact back to an earlier era. Sondra described being a part of Carver’s first class and how staff took her on college tours, encouraged her to join clubs, and connected her to scholarships that helped pay for school while building her leadership skills. Claudia followed by remembering what it meant to grow up during the turmoil of the 1950s and ’60s and still feel loved and protected inside Carver’s walls. “When the country felt chaotic”, she said, “Carver felt like love.”

The evening closed with Dr. Iris Cooper, another former Carver kid who went on to a successful career in business and public service. She shared what “CARVER” has always stood for in her life: Culture, Art, Respect, Excellence, Victory, and Race. For her, those weren’t just words, they were values lived out in programs, expectations, and everyday moments that pushed her to aim higher.

All of this means even more when you remember Carver’s roots. For many years, Carver was one of the only places Black children in Evansville could go to learn, play, and be poured into on purpose. Long before terms like “wraparound care” or “youth development” became popular, Carver was doing all of it—childcare, after-school programs, arts, sports, leadership opportunities, holiday activities—out of one building. It didn’t need a label. It was just what you did for kids and families.

Today, Carver continues that work through early childhood education, after-school and summer programs for youth, and opportunities for older adults to stay active and engaged. Under Deiona Clayton’s leadership, the organization is stepping into a new chapter while holding on to the same core mission: to be a steady place of support and possibility for the community.

An 80th anniversary is a moment to say “thank you” to the staff, volunteers, donors, and neighbors who have kept this place going. To the many names and faces—known and unknown—who poured into Ariah, Sondra, Claudia, Dr. Cooper, and so many others, the community owes deep gratitude.

But it’s also a reminder that institutions like Carver don’t run on memories alone. They need commitment and investment to keep doing what they’ve quietly done for eight decades: give children a safe space, help young people imagine college and careers, and remind elders they are still needed and seen.

If we value what those Carver kids have become—and what they continue to give back—then we should also value the place that helped raise them. My hope is that, as a community, we keep showing up for Carver the way Carver has shown up for us.