A Good Place

New Mendota Youth Center will offer fun, safety and educational programs

Bonnie Morris
Posted 8/29/18

MENDOTA - For many years, Mendota has not had a youth center. That is about to change with next week’s opening of the new Mendota Youth Center (MYC) at 723 Washington St.

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A Good Place

New Mendota Youth Center will offer fun, safety and educational programs

Posted

Michael Gonzalez, MYC Youth Director

MENDOTA - For many years, Mendota has not had a youth center. That is about to change with next week’s opening of the new Mendota Youth Center (MYC) at 723 Washington St.

The community is invited to learn more about the youth center during an open house from 5:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5. The open house will include food, give aways, door prizes and a chance to meet MYC’s youth director Michael Gonzalez, as well as volunteer team members.

Miguel Hernandez, who runs the Quest Resale Shop, came up with the idea for a youth center in Mendota about three years ago. He said MYC is a non-profit organization funded by proceeds from the Quest Resale Shop along with donations from the community. The youth center will be for kids in 5th-12th grade with a focus on an afterschool program, which will be held from 3-5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays. “We’re looking for retired teachers, current teachers or people who are highly educated who would volunteer their time for an hour a month, or whatever time someone can give, to help out with the afterschool program,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez also plans to offer kids the opportunity to explore various careers by inviting local business people to come in and talk about their day-to-day work life and the skills required for their job. “I want to get kids thinking about careers at a young age and get a realistic idea of what it takes,” he explained. “If a policeman comes in, for example, I want them to talk about what it’s really like, how to become a police officer, what type of character it takes, what the physical requirements are - take them through ‘boot camp’ so they really know what it would be like.”

Hernandez wants these to be in-depth classes broken up into one hour sessions over the course of four weeks. By partnering with local people willing to volunteer their time he hopes to cover a range of occupations. “It’s good to get people from the community involved, the kids don’t just want to hear from us all the time,” he laughed.

Another important aspect of the youth center will be to get the kids involved in service projects, possibly partnering with the city to help clean the parks or other areas around town. “We want to give back and help others, too,” Hernandez said. “We also want to partner with the local churches and have a youth service once a week for those who wish to attend.

To bring all of those ideas to life, the youth center will need sponsors and donations. Currently, Hernandez said they are raising money to buy Chromebooks for the afterschool program. “That’s what they use in school so it will be an easy transition for the students.”

When Hernandez moved to Mendota three years ago, he noticed a lot of kids without anything to do who ended up getting in trouble. “Drugs are a big problem, too, and I don’t want kids to go down that path. I want to see them get involved with something, feel like they have a purpose, find a passion for a career, for education,” he emphasized. “That’s our goal, to build relationships with the kids and help them any way we can.”

Hernandez also noted that he wants the community to be involved with the MYC. “That’s what makes kids feel loved - having the whole community back them up - we want kids to see that people are investing in them,” he said.

Gonzalez, who came to Mendota from Morris to serve as the center’s youth director, said his vision for the MYC is to help kids find a safe place. “With all the chaos going on at school or home, just give them a place to relax,” he said. “I helped Miguel with his youth group in Morris, where he was a youth pastor, and I found out I loved working with youth.”

Gonzalez said he was already on his own by the age of 13 and felt robbed of his youth. As a youth leader at CYC (Christian Youth Center) of Morris, he realized that he could give something back. “When I was growing up, there was nothing like this in my community,” he explained. “At 12 and 13, people were pushing you to do the wrong thing. When people come from broken families, they follow that footstep.”

In his role at the MYC, Gonzalez wants to be like a big brother for the kids and give them a safe place they can enjoy and also find some purpose. “Our goal is to get the community involved because that’s what it takes,” he noted. “If we can get the community, we can help a lot of kids. But even if we only change one kid’s life, that would be worth it.”

Hernandez said for now, the youth center will be open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3-8:30 p.m. The afterschool program will run from 3-5 p.m. during which volunteers will help kids who are struggling in school or need help getting their homework done. Other adult volunteers will serve as supervision in the downstairs center where kids can play games or just hang out.

Both Hernandez and Gonzalez hope anyone interested in learning more or volunteering at the MYC will attend next week’s open house. “If anyone can help, we would appreciate it,” Hernandez said. “Anything helps.”

To contact the MYC, visit their Facebook page (Mendota Youth Center) or e-mail Gonzalez at mycmichaelg@gmail.com.