Cambridge YMCA teen zone opens door to connections
At first glance the Cambridge Chaplin YMCA’s Teen Drop-In Zone feels cool and casual, with its pool tables, music and video game rooms, and chill and chat spaces.
The newly renovated teen zone, which recently moved from its location adjacent to the Hespeler Road YMCA to a spot in the back of the main facility, gives off vibes of a youthful VIP lounge, mixing bright, open entertainment areas with quieter conversation corners with leather couches.
In a physical sense, the trendy space is a place where teenagers are encouraged to hang out and surf computers, play video games, learn to play a guitar, enjoy a game of pool or ping-pong, do some homework or just meet with friends.
The zone is more than the sum or its physical parts, however. It’s a place where teens can incrementally build positive connections with youth leaders and peers, so that when they need support they have a safe landing place to find that help.
In leading a tour of the newly unveiled space, Dani Dickinson, YMCA supervisor of youth programming, elaborated on the concept behind the youth zone.
The kids who hang out at the space come for the teen-friendly, non-judgmental social atmosphere, but they quickly get to know the staff and resources available to them at the YMCA.
“When something really serious happens, the people they’re probably going to come to are the people they’ve been talking to for the last six months,” explained Dickinson.
While the space is designed to be a home away from home for teens who drop into the centre, it is actually a step up for some, she noted. It’s easy to forget some youths don’t have access to computers, video games or musical instruments at home because of their family’s financial circumstances.
A weekly Wednesday dinner, cooked in the space’s in-house kitchen, not only ensures teens eat a nutritious meal, but the activity of cooking together encourages them to learn how to prepare a meal.
There are many benefits for teen participants, Dickinson added. Youths who express a serious interest in learning guitar may be able to take one of the guitars, donated by Cambridge Live Music, home to develop that passion.
With the drop-in format of the program, the number of teens who visit the zone varies. Sometimes the space is packed, while some days might only see five to 10 youths drop in.
That’s just a number, according to Dickinson, who maintains it’s the quality of the relationships and interactions with teens that is important, not the quantity.
For Peter Sweeney, chief executive officer of the YMCAs of Cambridge and Kitchener-Waterloo, the teen zone is something special, something not offered at any other YMCAs in Ontario.
“This is one of my favourite spaces, and it has been from Day 1.”
The zone, which had been next door in a detached building, was relocated and upgraded in June in part thanks to a $50,000 donation by the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. “At Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, respect for people is an important part of our culture,” said Rick Lamb, general manager of production control at the Cambridge manufacturer.The teen zone is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 2 to 10 p.m.