Broadway Youth Center has largely completed the transition from its old location at Broadway and Belmont to its new location at Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, 615 W. Wellington, and held an open house July 22 to mark the occasion.
Music played as BYC clients and friends from the community meandered in to see the new space. It was a warm afternoon. Most of the lights were off and fans were going full-blast in the large multi-purpose room that now accommodates most of BYC's client services.
The Wellington location will be BYC's home for at least the next year, according to communications manager David Dodd.
After outgrowing their location at Broadway and Belmont, BYC had since been operating out of both Howard Brown Health Center's Lakeview offices, 3837 N. Broadway, and Broadway United Methodist Church, 3338 N. Broadway. Services will continue at the HBHC Lakeview facility, but BUMC-centered services have gradually shifted to the Wellington location.
The facility expects that, with its increased space, it will be able to better serve basic needs for young people age 12-24 who are experiencing housing instability and homelessness.
"Like any move, the most difficult part has been making sure that there is no interruption of services," said Lara Brooks, dir. of BYC. "We got it done without any."
The multi-purpose room, which has a large attached kitchen, will be the central location for most services, Brooks said. "A lot of what we do, we have managed to do in one roomit's a great use of the space."
Besides drop-in services, clients can access clothing and get assistance in locating shelter. "With everything in here, it makes it a lot easier to assess their needs on the spot," said Dodd.
The facility also has an exam room so that a registered nurse, who is present whenever BYC is open, can examine clients. "Our goal is to hire more mid-level providers, such as a nurse practitioner or a physician's assistant," said Associate Director Amy Miller. There are also facilities so clients can be tested for major diseases or infections.
The most common requests from clients, according to Amy Miller, are help in obtaining ID's and requesting food stamps.
BYC maintains a "shopping list" of items that they always can use to forward on to their clients. Among those items are Walgreens and Home Depot gift cards, Chapstick, deodorants, soaps, travel size lotions and sunblocks, travel size toothpastes and toothbrushes and new underwear, bras and socks.
Miller said that BYC has been making an effort to reach out to youth in parts of the city beyond Lakeview. "We went to United Black Pride, TGIF Pridewe try to to get to all the major Pride events."
Michael McFadden, vice-president, clinical services at HBHC, said he looked forward to the partnership with WAUCC. "It's a wonderful opportunity and a great collaboration. They've been very welcoming."
According to HBHC's website, BYC serves about 4,000 clients annually. For information on hours and services, visit howardbrown.org .