Margot Martino’s Caring Ways Helped Lake Forest Teenagers Blossom
By David A. F. Sweet
When Margot Martino moved to Lake Forest in the early 1970s, the news about teenagers in town was grim.
“People were talking about the use of drugs among adolescents,” she said. “And I was told Lake Forest had one of the highest youth suicide rates in the country.”
A few years later, a group of misfits known as The Losers stood out. They often partied in South Park, vandalized spots in town and sprayed graffiti, such as on the train bridge that hovers above Westleigh Road.
Flanked by CROYA Co-Founder Gene Hotchkiss (right) and Manager Todd Nahigian, Margot Martino stands in front of the sign of the young-adult organization she helped foster.
A handful of adults recognized that action needed to be taken. Along with Frank Farwell, then mayor of Lake Forest, and Gene Hotchkiss, president of Lake Forest College at the time, Martino was one of the three founders of CROYA (Committee Representing Our Young Adults). She started as a volunteer for CROYA at the Gorton Community Center. With a social worker, they worked with the youth of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff.
Today, CROYA is flourishing — from music jams to helping kids with disabilities to a multitude of activities, including retreats and educational programs. The organization creates a safe space for teens, whether they are troubled or not; and it is recognized as one of the country’s longest-running youth organizations.
But at the start, there was plenty of skepticism.
“There was an article in the high school paper that said, ‘What good is CROYA? They just set up dances,’” Martino recalled. “So I met with them and said, ‘What do you want?’ That started the basis of the way CROYA works today. You find out what the kids want … but then the kids also had to think about what their goal was and how it would be financed. It wasn’t handed to them.”
Sitting in her house off of Green Bay Road, Martino — who served as a CROYA board chairman and as its executive director from 1985-91– recalled the numerous stops and starts as CROYA struggled to appeal to all youth. In one instance she learned that a group of boys wanted to have a Band Jam. She helped motivate them to use the CROYA process to make the event happen.
Teenagers blow up balloons in the organization’s space, which includes recording studios and a kitchen.
“The first summer jam, we couldn’t get anyone to open their facility to let us do it,” said Martino.
When they were finally allowed to play behind Deer Path School, she asked the kids how to publicize it.
“They set up a sound system in my car, and I drove around town announcing it, until I was stopped by the police and told that I couldn’t do that,” Martino recalled.
Once the renovated beach reopened in the 1980s, CROYA bands were invited by the city to provide entertainment during the day. Things were improving for the town’s youth as suicides dropped to zero. But there were some teens who continued to have troubles.
Hotchkiss suggested the importance of getting psychological assistance to those who needed it. Today a critical component of CROYA is its two full-time youth workers who will be back in the schools this fall. They are available to meet with students and make referrals for professional services where necessary.
The kids gravitated toward Martino’s warmth, especially if they were having troubles at home.
“I had two girls come crying to me saying, ‘Will you be my Mom?’” Martino recalled. “I said, ‘Are you sure? I have two boys at home who aren’t talking to me.’”
Lake Forest Mayor Charlie Clarke presented a resolution to Martino for her hard work in getting CROYA off the ground.
Even decades later, teens she mentored are still excited to see her. Actor Vince Vaughn was one of her CROYA kids. While dining at Francesca’s Intimo in Lake Forest a short while ago, she saw him. When she tapped on his shoulder, he turned around and said, “Oh my God, Mrs. M!” and gave her a hug.
Martino points out that since its beginning, CROYA has accepted all high schoolers unconditionally, and eventually 7th and 8th graders were brought into the organization. From that point forward, they all were to be treated with respect from the adults.
“If you do that, you find they are very capable.” she said. “The biggest thing is to listen to them.
“My goal with CROYA was to create an environment where the kids could go to the people in the community and get them to help them. Everything was kids first. When we built the first CROYA facility, the kids were part of the planning. They even worked in tandem with the community to help raise funds.”
Martino will always cherish her time helping teenagers.
“I am so proud of that organization,” she said. “It was my life’s work. I had not really intended to work, but I saw an opportunity here to help. My heart is still in it.”
This article is reprinted from the Lake Forest Love blog.
