RUTLAND, Vt. (WCAX) – Rutland County teens will soon have a new space to call their own. It will be run by the Boys and Girls Club in a new space. The Rutland youth coalition and local students discovered the need for the new center.
“We want it really to be the teens’ space. We want the teens to really take ownership of that space. And our biggest mission here at Boys and Girls Club is to help youth reach their potential and become good, great citizens,” said Nicole Rice, the executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Rutland County.
Through a collaboration of Partners for Prevention and the Rutland Boys and Girls Club, a new center designed for young adults will be coming to the city’s Merchants Row.
“We’re hearing all the time that Rutland’s an aging population. We want our youth to stay around, and we really feel that it’s important to not just hear our teens, but act on what they want to see in our community. Hopefully, we keep some of our youth around,” said Heather Brouillard, the regional coordinator of Partners for Prevention.
A $40,000 congressionally directed spending grant through Vermont Afterschool will help pay for and renovate the new space located right next to the current Boys and Girls Club. The space, currently occupied by an artist, is expected to open this spring.
“It’s not often that we have funding like this where we can really help support the creation, but that’s really coupled together with this opportunity with the CDS grant,” said Nicole Miller, the executive director of Vermont Afterschool.
Over the summer, Partners for Prevention sent two interns, who are now high school seniors, to survey more than 300 sixth- through 12th-grade students in the area about after-school activities. They discovered that most simply wanted a place to be with friends.
“They went out and they talked to groups of youth about what they see in their community, what they want in their community and how we as adults can support them and their voice to make it a better place for them,” Brouillard said.
“Among the strongest protective factors for youth in many Vermont communities are safe spaces, and places for young people to convene, to engage, to connect and to really belong,” Miller said.
The new space also comes with increased demand as the organizers say more young adults joining the Boys and Girls Club will mean more mouths to feed, so more volunteers will be needed. They’re hoping the Rutland community will lend a hand.
“Because food is such an important piece to an active, successful teen center. So, that’s one of those weird barriers we’re trying to work through. The majority of this is grant funding and we’re really trying to reach out to get people in the community involved, as well,” said Sarah Cosgrove, a wellness consultant for Partners for Prevention.
“We talked a lot about how are we providing food for the teens, which is a huge thing that teens ask for; how are we providing enrichment for them and career skills? And so building community partners and having that volunteer case will be huge to make the teen center successful,” Rice said.
The teen center is scheduled to open on April 1.