Center Operation | The Director | Timeline

WE WELCOME YOUR QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, AND CONCERNS!!!!

Mission and Goal
The Youth Dreamers was founded in 2001 by youth at the Stadium School who felt that because there was nowhere safe, enriching, and fun to go after school, some of their peers were getting involved in violent, negative acts. They decided to create a youth-run youth center for these teens. .

Since 2001, youth and their adult allies have worked hard to write grants, fundraise, become a non-profit organization, work in the community, purchase a house, go through a zoning appeal, and renovate the house. We work in school all day on Wednesdays, after school and on weekends. Our non-profit organization has a board of eight and eight adults who meet the second Monday of every month at the school. Please see our flyer for more detailed information.

The Youth Dreamers Youth Center

• Will be open from 2:00-8:00 Monday through Friday.
• Initially, will not be open on the weekends, but might be used by the Homestead United Methodist Church on Sundays for classes.
• Will be open in the summer from 11:00-6:00 with all day structured activities.
• Will have a security system on during closed hours.

Who Will Work at the Center?

• Teenagers in grades 7 through 12 who have completed an application and gone through an interview process will work there. They will be able to choose whether to get paid for their hours, earn service-learning hours towards graduation, or a combination of both. They will be expected to work one-on-one with the younger members guiding them through an afternoon of tutoring, classes, snack time and play time. They can also partner with an adult to teach classes. They will have ID badges for admittance.
  
  
• Adults from the community are invited to work there supervising or teaching classes. They can earn a stipend for their hours. We have a workshop application for anyone with a skill, talent or passion that they want to share.
  
  
• Board members, college students, parents of Youth Dreamers and other adults will also be there to supervise.
  
  
• Kristina Berdan, the director, will be on site at all times with at least five other adults.

Who will the members be?
The members will be children in grades one through six from area elementary schools. We have already started working with these children in their schools. They will have membership cards for identification. There will be a set of rules to follow and these children will always be with a teenager.

How many people will be there at a time?
There will be a limit of up to 23 teenagers and 40 members who belong. We will never have more than 10 teenagers and 20 younger members in the center at one time. There will be at least five adults on site at all times supervising.

What will be going on at the center?
Teenagers will work one-on-one with children guiding them through an afternoon of tutoring, classes, snack time, and structured play time. There will be classes like pottery, mosaics, creative writing, dance, typing, etc. We will have adults and teenagers working together to teach the classes. The entire second floor is a designated QUIET area with two computer labs and a lounge area for tutoring.

How will we keep other people out?

We will have ID badges for members and volunteers. We will not allow others to enter and we will work with them in a positive way to either help them join or find somewhere else to go. We will create a relationship with police before we open so that they know to stop by frequently. We will also invite them to teach safety workshops at our center.

What if members/volunteers are rowdy?
There will be a manual for volunteers and for members with specific rules at the center and consequences if the rules are not followed. If members do not cooperate, we will call parents, put children in a Time Out, take away play privileges, and/or send them home. If volunteers are not doing their jobs, they can be suspended or fired. There will be an ORIENTATION for all members so that they know the rules and consequences.

How will we help the community?
We will organize weekly trash pick ups, host block parties, have a Neighborhood Watch while the center is open, buddy with the elderly to help them with things like running errands, weeding, etc. We will also invite them to come to our center to work and participate in special activities. We will not take up parking spaces since most of us will not be driving and if we are, we will park in the lot owned by the Shepherd's Clinic located right behind our youth center. Teenagers will walk some of the members to and from the center as part of their job.

How did we involve the community?

• We canvassed the block on three separate days in May to knock on doors and share our project. We welcomed questions and concerns. If no one was home, we left our information, including how to contact us with questions and concerns.
  
  
• We went to two CHM meetings to share and answer questions.
  
  
• We held our own community meeting at Homestead United Methodist Church and put flyers in everyone's mailbox to let them know. When no one showed up, we canvassed the neighborhood again.
  
  
• We have held two Community Design Meetings for residents to help us plan for the shared space between the clinic, the youth center, and City College High School . Ideas for those meetings were focused on safety and beautification. All ideas are being incorporated into James W. Rouse Community Service Day on October 11, 2008 .
  
  
• Through the years, we have connected with the community through collecting their oral histories, making them mosaic house numbers, painting them pots for their stoops, sharing Christmas cheer, having them vote on paint colors for the house, and throwing our annual block party FunFest to bring everyone out for food, tours, and community art.

Why 1430 Carswell St.?
The students started researching locations in 2002. They worked with real estate agents, reviewed the multiple listings, and visited numerous houses.

After comparing 12 houses by location, size, and feasibility of acquisition, they decided on 1430 Carswell. They also felt that this was the best house because it gives us a chance to support the owners--Homestead United Methodist Church-- financially and in other ways, such as letting them use the space on Sundays for classes.

Who Supports Us?

The Department of Housing and Community Development
Senator Barbara Mikulski
BOPA
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Open Society Institute
Struever Bros. Eccles and Rouse
EDSA
Councilperson Mary Pat Clarke
The Stadium School Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke
St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center
Homestead United Methodist Church
Annie E. Casey
CitiFinancial State Farm
Abell Foundation
Youth As Resources
Baltimore Community Foundation
University of Maryland School of Law
Penza +Bailey Architects
T. Rowe Price Foundation

AND MORE!!

Contact us at: The Stadium School , 1300 Gorsuch Ave ; 410-952-7003; youthdreamer@hotmail.com Ask for Kristina Berdan!