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NCCF to break ground on rec center
$7 million facility to include gym, art studios, cafeteria
The Gazette
by Bradford Pearson
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Michael likes the same thing a lot of 16-year-olds do: guitars, basketball and football. But where he lives, there are no instruments to play, nowhere to shoot hoops and no place to practice throws and tackles.
For Michael and the other children and teenagers who live at the National Center for Children and Families' Greentree Shelter, that's about to change.
The center, a Bethesda nonprofit that serves homeless families, victims of domestic violence and vulnerable adolescents, is set to break ground on Thursday on the Freddie Mac Foundation Youth Activities Center, a building that will house a gymnasium, music and art studios, a chapel and other resources for the shelter's residents.
"I do play the guitar and we don't have guitars here or space to play guitars," Michael said. "And I know other kids in the dorms who like to play drums, but can't. It's a way to express yourself. This is exciting."
Since 2005, the center has raised $5 million of the $7 million needed to complete and furnish the 21,000-square-foot facility, Executive Director Sheryl Brissett-Chapman said.
More than 50 companies and individuals donated money to support the project, she said, including the Freddie Mac Foundation, which donated $1 million.
"Our investment will provide critical services to help vulnerable young people who are homeless," said Jane Moya, a spokeswoman for the foundation. "That's a key part of the work we do: create stable homes and stable families."
Foundation President Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. is expected to attend the groundbreaking on Thursday, Moya said, as are a bevy of county and state lawmakers.
The Greentree Shelter serves about 35 to 40 homeless people at a time, including abused women and their families, and at-risk youth, Brissett-Chapman said.
Currently, center staff has to transport the students to area recreation centers or gyms to play sports indoors, said Krystal McKinney, division manager of adolescent services. The new recreation center will allow for more centralized and personalized care, she said, which is important with the sometimes at-risk youth.
"One of the best aspects of this project is that we're going to have a 24-hour-a-day facility where staff can just walk a child over to the building if they need to," McKinney said. "Sometimes they just need to let their emotions out, and now we can do that right on campus."
In addition to the recreational aspects of the new center, it will also include a cafeteria, which is a vital asset, Brissett-Chapman said.
"Right now all the families can't really eat together, and that's important," she said. "Families will be able to sit and talk to each other at meal time, and learn from each other."
The center will also serve as a meeting place for mentors and volunteers to meet with the youth, and job counselors will visit the campus as well.
The NCCF has been in the same location since 1931, Brissett-Chapman said, but has never featured a recreation center or indoor gym.
"This is going to be the crowning gem of our transforming campus," she said. "… and to rally this kind of community support during these economically challenging times speaks to my belief that the community cares, even when they struggle to pay their own bills."
Brissett-Chapman says she hopes to have building construction completed by July 2010.
