SUNBURY – Several organizations have teamed up to address the problem of “At Risk Teens” in the Central Susquehanna Valley. Sara Lauver of the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way says a number of local organizations need to partner together to provide teen programming.
Lauver said, “The United Way as a whole, our focus is always to try to stop duplication of efforts, bring people and resources together and I think that’s the sole purpose of this teen impact council. We have the Refuge in Sunbury at the table, we have Transitions, we have the YMCA, we have the Donald Heiter Community Center. We have a lot of people coming together to talk about this.”
One of those ideas is a new teen center for Sunbury. Chris Reis says the center will be the work of local teens getting involved, “The kids are going to be doing everything. I mean the goal is to have them involved from day one. We have our first meeting on April 6. Right there, we are going to talk about what the kids will be doing and start putting in basic designs. We will start figuring out who is going to be leading the groups and the more they are involved, the better it will be.”
Cyndi Wetmiller is an advisory board member for the Regional Engagement Center of eastern Snyder County and says they are moving forward to bring the REC to Selinsgrove, “The AmeriCorps Vista member from Susquehanna University will play a key role in helping with the day to day operations. We are working with the Snyder County Coalition for Kids, that’s been the cusp of our leadership. As far as funding, we are fully funded through individuals and businesses. We have enough to buy the building and almost enough for the renovations. We are still making that final push for those last dollars to come in, because we want to be sure that we can sustain it.”
You can hear more from Reis, Wetmiller, Lauver and others talking about the need for teen programming and community support on a recent WKOK Sunrise, posted online at www.wkok.com.
