Sandpoint Teen Center dreams of permanent home

SANDPOINT — There is a place, in our fair city, where teens go to hang out after school. They gather in safety to play games, cook meals, complete craft projects, create artwork, finish homework or just plain relax after a day of classes.

Since 2004, these kids have come together under adult supervision as part of the Sandpoint Teen Center. This year, the center finds itself rolling up to a hopeful intersection in the organization’s 12-year history of serving teens. The building where they meet — a two-story structure at the corner of Pine and Division — is on the market. The owner, Sandpoint’s Seventh-day Adventist Church, is asking $385,000 for the property.

Teen center director Joan Avery has a dream connected with what she sees as a unique opportunity — to buy the building and transform what is now a four-day-a-week gathering place into a week-long teen recreation center.

“There’s nothing for teens to do in Sandpoint,” she said, “unless they have money.”

For those who don’t have the cash, the teen center has become both refuge and safety net during an after-school period the director called “the most dangerous time” for kids. During the hours from 3-6 p.m., she pointed out, “the kids are out of school and parents are gone.” If problems such as teen pregnancy, drugs and alcohol are going to arise, these few hours are the most likely timeframe, according to Avery.

Fortunately, it’s also prime time at the center, which is open from 2-5 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and from 1-5 p.m. to accommodate early release on Wednesdays.

The doors open and the kids roll in, filling the room with energy as they take up board games or engage in friendly competition at air hockey, foosball and pocket billiards.

This year, an $8,000 Equinox Foundation Grant has added spark to another teen center program, that of teaching young people about nutrition and healthy food choices while, it turns out, also preparing them for the job market.

The combination cooking and nutrition classes, taught by Avery and volunteer Mona Stafford, require the teens to prepare for an online food-handling test before moving on to prepare (and clean up after) six meals on their own. Completion of the course is rewarded by a certificate that already has led to summer jobs in establishments such as Trinity at City Beach, plus a $25 bonus from the center.

A separate nutrition class focuses on healthy foods and also earns $25 for those who finish the four-week class series.

“Hey, the money speaks,” said Avery, adding that enrollment has doubled for the classes this year.

More impressive yet is the change in eating habits as these students are introduced to different culinary options — a feat made possible by monthly visits from different chefs in the community. You’re not likely to find bags of chips or fatty dips sitting around, but you will be treated to platters of fresh fruits and vegetables and what Avery called “alternative spreads” like hummus.

“The kids are choosing healthy stuff to eat — and loving it,” the director said. “Things like mac and cheese and ramen noodles used to be staples around here, but they never ask for them any more.

“And then the kids are taking these recipes and going home and cooking shepherd pie, spring rolls and egg rolls and stroganoff with sauce they made from scratch,” she continued.

If it seems like undue emphasis has been placed on food at the Sandpoint Teen Center, a look at the numbers proves this strategy is working when it comes to attracting kids. Because the teens sign in and out for each visit, Avery and her team of community volunteers can easily track the headcount, which averages about 400 visits a month.

“That equates to 3,500 meals a year,” Avery said. “And we used to do that on $2,500 a year.”

The Equinox Foundation grant, she added, has moved the dial away from boxed foods and quick snacks to a meal program based on fresh foods, healthy juices and recipes made mostly from scratch ingredients.

Seeing how powerful a cash infusion can be to the organization, the center went looking for similar support in its drive to buy the corner building and convert it into a more comprehensive, permanent home for teen programs. They found a major ally in Leadership Sandpoint, which has pledged to raise money for the effort.

“Leadership Sandpoint is so dynamic, so there,” said Avery. “And they’re the first organization that really took us on as a project.”

If things come together as planned, Sandpoint Teen Center will be able to expand its programs to include team-building, additional art classes, sports, camps and summer activities, Avery listed.

“But the stakes are high,” she added. “If we lose the building, we lose the teen center. If we owned the building, the teen center could be open seven-days-a-week.”

Leadership Sandpoint looks poised to make that happen. The group — a Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce program designed to identify future community leaders and plug them into the local network — plans to virtually take over Sandpoint during this year’s Cinco de Mayo festivities, according to organizers, who said a host of events will raise money for the Sandpoint Teen Center. (Details will be included in the Daily Bee, on Facebook pages and other websites closer to the events.)

Representatives from Sandpoint Teen Center also will speak to the Rotary Club of Sandpoint on Wednesday in hopes of gaining further traction through added support from another influential community group.

Connecting with organizations such as Leadership Sandpoint has been anything but accidental, the director shared. It’s a direction that’s right in line with her overall vision for the center.

“Along with my dream of owning the building and creating a teen recreation center, my other dream is to mentor these kids into responsible leadership roles that they will take into the community,” she said.

These dreams may not be so far-fetched when one considers that the center has been drumming up approximately $40,000-a-year to cover its annual operating budget.

“We’ve raised that much money for the past eight years and basically all of it has come from community donations,” Avery said.

Sandpoint Teen Center might fall short of changing the entire world, but the director has a more realistic goal in mind — keep kids safe after school, introduce them to a healthier lifestyle and help prepare them to become the leaders of tomorrow.

“We might not reach every single kid, but if we can reach a percentage of them, that’s a huge step in the right direction,” she said. “For those kids we do reach, we might change their lives forever. And isn’t that worth it?”

For more information, contact Joan Avery at 208-946-1087 or visit online at: https://www.facebook.com/SandpointTeenCenter

To help support the Leadership Sandpoint drive to raise money for the building, donations can be made by sending a check to: ‘Teen Center fund-raiser’ care of: Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce, 1202 Fifth Avenue, Sandpoint, ID, 83864. All donations are tax deductible.