Can you believe that summer is winding down and we head back to school next week?! At the youth center, back-to-school season is a very exciting time. We love welcoming new members, hearing about your day over a game of pool, and helping you stay on track with your studies.

Our fall hours will be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 3pm-6pm! 

(printable schedule below)

Due to the pandemic and current local trends, we will be maintaining our safety protocols. No more than 35 members will be allowed in the building at one time, so we can maintain social distance. No parents or adults will be allowed to visit inside the building, as this takes away a space for a child to enter the building. If you need to chat with Molly or Carly, please call or send us an email and we will absolutely connect with you, otherwise any drop-offs and pick-ups must be done outside! Unlike last year, we will not be designating specific days for various age groupings, the YC is first come-first served! If the YC is at capacity, you can still ALWAYS stop by for food. Wednesdays will remain a cleaning day for the staff to thoroughly sanitize (beyond our daily disinfecting) every high-touch surface in the building. Keep in the loop on our social media accounts where we will continue to virtually interact with members on those days as well.

Anyone who is visiting the youth center MUST wear a mask at all times, regardless of vaccination status. Because we can’t remove our masks in the building, dinner will be dished up in to-go containers again this fall, and everyone will be able to bring home a hot meal to enjoy! We serve members from 10-18, and not everyone in those age groups is eligible to receive a vaccine, so we will continue our pause of high contact sports, like basketball. We will allow members to take turns practicing basketball drills, play a round of horse, or even a game of around-the-world! The gym is also still open for pickleball games, ladder ball, and various other games that allow for a little more space between members. 

We do need your help, though, to keep the youth center safe and open for everyone. As hard as it is to miss a day of fun at the youth center, if you are feeling sick--or if anyone in your inner circle is feeling under the weather-- please do NOT come to the youth center. If anyone in your home is awaiting Covid test results, please do NOT come to the youth center. We love you all, we love seeing you every single day, but if you have any symptoms, we will have to send you home. If you have a cough, a runny nose, a headache...you may brush it off as allergies or a cold, but we unfortunately cannot take any chances. Missing out on the YC for sickness is not a punishment, it is just a hard fact of life sometimes when we have to think of the safety of the whole group. Please be honest with us with how you’re feeling and what’s going on at home, you know we’ve got your back!

We are SO lucky to be able to stay open and serve kids in the community, and the safety of our members means the world to us. At times, not everyone may agree with our rules and plans, and that’s okay. We are still navigating uncharted territory, just like everyone else, and we are having to make tough decisions to the best of our abilities. Please know that every single decision we make, as crummy as they may be (ie: pausing basketball/dodgeball etc), we make with the wellbeing of our members in mind. There WILL come a day where things go back to “normal”, but until then we are going to stay positive and make the best of the opportunities we DO have-- the opportunity to support these really amazing youngsters through education, recreation, and life skills programming, and for that, we are forever grateful!