A new direction for Lodi teen center
Leadership Lodi class lays out plans for improvements for One-Eighty Teen Center
Each year the Leadership Lodi class comes up with a project that will make a difference in the community, and this year, the Class of 2017 has chosen to assist the OneEighty Teen Center in its renovation project.
“We really saw the need in it,” Leadership Lodi member Jamie Henderson Vilinskas said on Friday. “It was really clear to us when we saw how much good it could do for the community and the youth that they serve. It was something that we could do within our short time span. We have only a year to complete our project and this was something that we can complete within our year.”
According to Vilinskas, the center, located on Lockeford Street, has been plagued by safety issues and the leadership group wanted to make it a safe place to hang out. Vilinskas said the group plans to help with upgrades to match the revitalization taking place on the north end of Downtown.
The plan is to renovate the facade of the building, add extra lighting for safety, along with other features to make it safer environment.
“They had problems with armed gang members confronting the kids that they’re trying to serve,” Vilinskas said.
“They’ve had problems with homeless people sleeping in the kids’ basketball court so we’re trying to do some stuff around the building to make it a lot safer,” Vilinskas said.
Lodi Leadership member Peter Rosado, an architect at LDA Partners, was responsible for coming up with the design and rendering for the renovations to the center.
“These kids have a lot of character, and they need a lot support from the community and I think this design reflects that,” he said.
Rosado’s plans call for a base of three colors for the facade of the building. He also plans to include a mural that the teens can help create.
“It’s a tessellated pattern to show the character and vibrancy of these kids because they come from a hard background,” he said.
He said the building currently fades into the background and the goal is for people to notice the center when they drive by and know that it is supported by the community. He explained that leadership members were looking to create a sense of investment with the project, and that the design helps to reflect that by adding contrasting colors with the primary colors of blue, red, and orange.
He said the exterior lighting should address the safety issues the center is having in the front of the building.
Rosado said he and class members are very excited and passionate about this project.
Vilinskas said they plan to raise money for the project by holding events in the community. The goal is to raise $60,000 and so far they’ve raised a couple thousand, Vilinskas said.
“To get this going we all chipped in money just because we did care about it, and wanted to let everyone else know that this is important to us, so we put our own money into it,” she said.
The first fundraiser for the event will be held at De Vinci’s on May 18, and tickets are $10 each. They will have an additional fundraiser June 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the One-Eighty Teen Center. Tickets for the event are $20 per person, and the event will include refreshments, a silent auction, a raffle and music. Leadership Lodi is looking at other ways to raise funds for this project as well.
While Leadership Lodi has committed to raising the funds for the painting and beautification portion of the project, the center is also in the process of garnering grant funding for all the safety features and infrastructure for the project. Leadership Lodi has decided to oversee the entire project by meeting with the contractors and remaining hands on so the project can be seamless.
Despite concerns at a recent Lodi City Council meeting that grant funding shouldn’t go to the center because it’s a faith-based organization, One-Eighty Teen Center Director Alison McGregor said the center is focused on the safety of the teens and revitalizing and beautifying the community.
“Look at what we’re doing and what the need is, and let’s be excited about a group of people that want to address the need because that’s worth celebrating,” she said.
Leadership Lodi member Nicole Bettencourt said the focus is the youth and how they benefit from the project.
According to McGregor, the center serves middle school and high school youth in the community. The center is open daily after school and on Friday nights with a goal of providing a safe place for teens to hang out. The center also reaches out to the youth in the community by bringing its mobile unit to Kofu Park three days out of the week and Hale Park two days out of the week. The center provides mentoring and youth and family counseling along with a host of other services.
With the center’s Care Lodi Program, staff living in the Heritage District build relationships with residents in the community, provide biweekly tutoring and league sports at Lawrence Elementary School. One Eighty also participates in the GRIP program, an effort to minimize and deter gang violence in the community.
“We are incredibly grateful to have Leadership Lodi,” McGregor said. “This is really just a blessing to us. We are thrilled. It’s pretty awesome.”