“The teenage years are hard,” acknowledges Adrienne Grant, who is looking for more help to turn her dream of a Scugog Youth Centre into a reality. Forthepast22months,asmallcore group of five local adults have laid the groundwork for a place where local teenagers will be “welcomed and loved unconditionally – and not judged.” “At Scugog Youth Centre (SYC pronounced “sic” as in that’s awe- some/sic) we hope to extend grace, compassion, love and encourage- ment to all teens regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or life circumstances.” Finding a space for youth aged 13-19 to gather after school and on weekends “is a concept and a hope at the moment,” Adrienne said. A lot of planning has already been done but there is a lot more to do, and she is hoping to attract more caring adult volunteers with a variety of skills to form a larger working group – for example, lawyers, counsellors, men- tal health professionals, accountants, teachers, fundraising specialists, people with human resources and administration skills, communica- tion experts in social media, etc. An information session is being held at Adrienne’s home, 178 Cochrane St. on Thursday May 18 at 7 p.m. Drop in if you would like to find out how you can be a part of something posi- tive for youth. Representatives of three local churches got the SYC plan rolling wanting to live out their faith in re- sponse to a real need in town. “We now need a wide scope of support across the community,” Adrienne ex- plained. “We hope to see other people get involved to get the doors open.” “There’s definitely a lot of sup- port in the community for SYC,” Adrienne says. There are $45,000 in pledges towards this project. SYC has been incorporated and the next step is obtaining charitable status. Mayor Tom Rowett is a champion of this idea. Also, thirty-five local volunteers have already been recruited and trained. Representatives of three local churches got the SYC plan rolling. Vos’ Independent and Big Brothers Big Sisters are also supportive. Government grants may be sought to hire a part-time coordinator. Adrienne said that ideally, they find an affordable place centrally lo- cated in Port Perry, within easy walk- ing distance from the high school for the teen drop-in centre. A local survey of 480 teenagers, in grades 8 – 12, revealed that 92% of teens feel that SYC is needed and 86% said they would attend. Adrienne envisions the space having a TV, computers, couches, foosball, a ping pong table, a mini fridge, interactive games, etc. Some of these items have already been do- nated. Agood start would be opening SYC three nights a week after school from 3 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. plus on weekends, when Open Mic or Movie Nights could be held. A Local Youth Advisory Group will be formed to provide input on what they would like to see offered at SYC. Adrienne pointed out that, ironi- cally, social media is one reason why “teenagers feel more disconnected and isolated than ever.” There are a lot of risk factors associated with isolation, she noted, quoting Durham Region statistics indicating that the incidence of teen cutting, suicide, anxiety, depression and drug use are on the rise. “We want to help kids connect again,”Adrienne. “Our mission state- ment is to provide all teenagers with a designated, safe place to belong, engage and thrive.” “Our goal is to provide kids with a POSITIVE Be Part Of SOMETHING POSITIVE SOMETHING POSITIVE Be Part Of SOMETHING Be Part Of SYC INFORMATION NIGHT PLANNED FOR NEW SCUGOG YOUTH CENTRE ...................... Please turn to page 22 FOCUS - MAY 2017 21