The Stockbridge Teen Center is now open for students! Through Crossroads Community Church, Bonnie Davidson, Teen Center Director oversees a team of volunteers who offer students grades 6-12 a fun, safe environment to hang out after school. The Teen Center is located at 5000 S. Clinton St. in Stockbridge. The Center is open from 2:30-5:30pm on full days of school, with daily transportation provided from the school to the Teen Center.
We offer video gaming, air hockey, ping pong, foosball, study stations, arcades, board games, puzzles, concessions, tutoring and positive relationship building. But these are simply sideline activities, as our primary goal is to “bridge the gap” between the time students get out of school to when parents get home from work. We all know that if teens are given 3 hours of unsupervised free time, the best choices aren’t always made. Our goal is to provide an alternative, which allows them the opportunity to be in a positive, encouraging environment that promotes kindness and respect.
Our church leadership, congregation and Student Ministry Director, Samantha Young, as well as our entire community has been extremely supportive in making this a reality. After 8 months of renovation, we were able to open on Feb 1, 2022. There were approximately 75-80 students the first day and the student comments we heard made it all worth it!
Some of our future goals are to provide outdoor activities, such as a basketball court, sand volleyball court and a contained fire pit with bleachers. Our teens need healthy places to hang out and we want to do what we can to provide that. Please let us know if you’re able and willing to help with any of these future goals!
We’re so grateful for our strong team of volunteers because this couldn’t happen without them. Some have committed to being a Team Leader once a week, others commit to biweekly and others volunteer sporadically, as their schedule permits. If you love teens and would like more information as to what volunteering looks like, please contact me at teencenter@c3stockbridge.org.
A big THANK YOU to our community for coming alongside us in the venture. It’s a pleasure to serve our teens and we know that by investing in them, our future will be a much brighter one!