News

Big Dreams For a Community Youth Center

By

02/08/2012

You may or may not have heard about The Zone - a community Youth Center on Main Street that has been operating every Wednesday after school for elementary students and every Friday evening for the teens with over a dozen students showing up each time providing them with a safe, fun environment to spend their time. We believe that this youth center is vital to our community. Young people need a place to go that is safe and where they can interact with positive, life-giving adults who care about them. Without this, many young people become involved in drugs, alcohol, and destructive behavior. This kind of behavior is becoming more and more prevalent in the communities surrounding Glen Ullin. We want to give our young people another choice, but our facility is deteriorating to the point where it is past its usefulness and our space is limited. So, we must find another option.

We have a dream to build a facility that will impact our youth. Our dreams go beyond just a small building with a few games, or a babysitting service for young people. We want to impact the next generation with a positive environment. We want to have a place with adequate space for games, activities, mentoring and meetings. We envision a gymnasium area to attract older youth, provide space for kids and parents to be active and for the community to hold meetings and events. We also dream of a game area big enough to hold the growing number of young people who are using the youth center. We envision an adequate kitchen facility to provide snacks and host activities. We want a place that the youth and community can take pride in and call their own.

In order to accomplish our dreams, we first need people who will believe in what we are doing and invest money in the big dream. We will need to acquire land, build a building, and furnish the building inside and out. This all requires money. The estimated total cost for the building project that we are dreaming about would be around $500,000 when everything is completed. A huge task, but definitely possible.

We also need people who are willing to donate their time, energy,and resources to help us. This could include labor, building supplies, time investing in youth, and wisdom. We can't do it alone! It has been said that "teamwork makes the dream work!". We believe this is true in building a community youth center. Together we can see a dream accomplished in Glen Ullin.

The group that is behind the effort to build and own this youth center facility is a church – Bethel Assembly of God. We are willing to take on the responsibility of the facility and all that entails. However, it is by no means exclusive to us! We can assure you that our purpose is not to proselytize people into coming to our church. We are not trying to take people from other churches or indoctrinate them into our way of thinking. Our intentions are merely to help our youth. We will need everyone in the community and the surrounding area who believe in this project to help.

Are you a business, community organization or individual who would like to be involved in making this dream happen? All donations given to the project will be tax deductible. You may designate any moneys or checks to "Glen Ullin Youth Center" or "Bethel Assembly of God" and note that it is for the new youth center. You can mail moneys to PO Box 88, Glen Ullin, ND 58631. If you have any questions or would like to be involved in this big dream in any way, please feel free to contact one of our youth center committee members: Pastor Jerrod Williams (348-3054), Pastor Missy Beer (348- 9768 ) or call 701-220-7169. Will you invest in this dream for the youth of our community?