Pittsfield Drop-In Youth Center Opens on North Street
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Haywood Eurquhart, second from left, with Mayor Daniel Bianchi on Sunday before cutting the ribbon for the grand opening of the new drop-in youth center on North Street. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Hub has been open for two weeks — and is fast growing into a favorite hang out for local kids.
Sunday saw the "official" opening of the drop-in youth center, but director Michael Williams said the number of youth taking advantage of the facility has been growing exponentially since its opening on March 9.
"The first day, we had 10 to 15 kids ... this Thursday, we had 35 kids," he said.
The Hub was overflowing on Sunday with residents of all ages playing pool, skeeball and air hockey, chomping on pizza and pie, and checking out the two floors of activities, exercise equipment and lounging space with television and video games.
"For eight or 10 weeks now, all I've done is eat sleep and drink this place, but it seems to have paid off," Williams said. "The kids really like it."
The 12-year-old Haywood Eurquhart echoed that sentiment.
"I like it a lot," he said, adding his favorite activity is playing pool with his friends.
The Reid Middle School student got to cut the ribbon to officially open The Hub. Haywood said organizers were looking for someone who spent a lot of time at center.
"I am here a lot," he said.
Shawn Morgan, 15, of the city's Youth Commission said a youth center had been a topic of the commission. Mayor Daniel Bianchi said it was important to listen to what young people want — if the adults expected youth to listen to them.
"It's a two-way street," the mayor said. "Anything we can do to help connect with our young people and help our young people connect with us is a good thing.
"It's things like this that will help our young folk gain a sense of belonging and a sense of community."
The center is an initiative of First United Methodist Church, operating as the non-profit Fenn Street Community Development Corp., and local businesses with the backing of the city of Pittsfield. Williams also works for Pittsfield Community Connection, a program of the city's Shannon Grant.
"They come in, we give them snacks after shool, we give them help with their homework, we try to find out what they want to do, what they can do, what we can do to help them," Wiliams said. "It's been great. It keeps getting better every day."
The Hub is very much a collaborative effort, he said. It mostly came together in the last few months after community development group incorporated last year to get it going.
"We basically approached a bunch of people and said, 'this is what we're doing, how can you help?'" he said, estimating that between donations and Craigslist, the center was outfitted for about $1,500.
Among the volunteers was a friend of Williams' "big in the graffiti culture" who brought along three artists from New York, Rhode Island and Connecticut to cover the walls.
The center at 243 North St. is so far successful, and Williams anticipates adding programming including study help, fitness and painting.
But keeping it going will mean finding ways to keep the center financially stable.
"This is mostly church funded," said the Rev. Ralph Howe of First Methodist. "I'm working on getting secular funds and building up the support system.
"I've been doing almost nothing but writing grants."
It was strongly felt that there was a pressing need for a free center for youth, which resulted in incorporation of the nonprofit.
"The goal is that Fenn Street will eventually take it over," Howe said. "We're looking longer term to develop support."
That longer-term vision also includes developing support systems for the economically challenged and the elderly.
"This is a start," John Pariseau, a local businessman, civic activist and a director of Fenn Street, said. "What we need is people to be involved ... It's our personal investment, our time relating to our young people.
"You only get this opportunity once. We need — the business community, the individuals of Pittsfield — we need to be involved here."
Tags: mentoring, ribbon cutting, shannon grant, youth center, youth programs,
