Healthy Hangout East Central Youth Center Gives Kids A Good, Safe Place To Play After School

The big-screen TV in the East Central Campus Life Center commanded a wide-eyed after-school audience.

The youngsters were captivated by the age-old tale of David fighting the giant Goliath.

But in this cartoonified version, David is actually an asparagus spear. Goliath is - what is that? - an oversized pickle. And, upon close inspection, the roly-poly Philistines appear to be tiny peas.

The cartoon - and the place for the youngsters to hang out - comes courtesy of the fledgling Campus Life Center, which is on a giant-sized mission not unlike that of the goofy vegetable on the screen.

Since opening its doors last September, the interdenominational Life Center has given elementary and middle school kids a place to go when otherwise they’d be home alone or wandering the streets out of sheer boredom.

“I come here because no one’s home after school,” said 7-year-old Tanner Knutson, a Sheridan Elementary first-grader.

That it’s smack in the middle of East Central - a neighborhood that’s struggled with drug and prostitution problems - is no coincidence.

“We want to make a dent,” said Rick Keinholz, executive director of Spokane Youth For Christ, which opened the center. “We want to provide a safe, healthy environment where kids can have fun.”

The idea, he said, was to take kids in to reduce incidents of juvenile crime, alcohol abuse and teen pregnancy, among other problems.

A mammoth task. But according to law enforcement officials from around the nation, it’s a feasible one.

Last week, a national lobbying group of more than 170 police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors called for the government to increase support for after-school programs.

They reasoned simply keeping kids occupied in positive programs would reduce juvenile crime during its typical peak time of day - after school.

Spokane police officer Bill Schaber, neighborhood resource officer for the East Central neighborhood, said the center may do just that.

“It gives kids a place to go and something to do rather than wander in packs,” Schaber said. “It’s been a real good thing.”

Similar youth centers are open in Colville and Kettle Falls, Wash., where officials have seen a drop in juvenile crime rates, Keinholz said.

“We wanted to go where the at-risk kids are,” Keinholz said. “Some of them come from single-parent families or are economically disadvantaged. These kids need a place just for them, that they’d want to come to.”

The center may also lessen the burden on other community resources, including the East Central Community Center, which also offers several youth programs.

“We were very supportive when we first heard about it,” said ECCC director Diane Jennings. “We know there’s a great need from our kids. We have turned people away from programs because there wasn’t enough staff and resources.”

This new youth center opened on a shoestring budget, said Keinholz.

The founders had lofty ambitions, but felt like they had about as much ammo as poor old David with his slingshot.

The building, a vandalized, crumbling structure previously condemned by the Spokane County Health District, appeared too far gone.

But Keinholz was determined to base the center in East Central.

With the help of owner Rick Rubio, the place has been transformed into a sunny, white-walled facility that still smells of fresh paint.

Just five months into its existence, the center houses a computer room, a rec room with a 56-inch screen TV and a playroom. The concrete on an adjoining basketball court is still drying.

“Everything you see here is donated,” said center director Joel Jensen. “It’s like ‘just ask and boom!’ There it is.”

The computer equipment - five computers complete with scanners, CD-ROMS and color printers - was bought with grant money. So was the property housing the basketball court.

“It feels like we’re in a boat on a wave,” Jensen said. “And we’re just going along for the ride.”

Even the staff was a donation of sorts. Whitworth College pays the salary of seven of the center’s staff members out of its work study program.

The staff facilitates daily tutoring sessions with the elementary kids, as well as weekly Bible studies. But most of the spirituality, says Jensen, comes through simply being there.

“We don’t sit ‘em down and shove religion down their throat,” he said. “To let them know that in our eyes, they have worth and value is to be able to let them feel the love of God.”

Many were suspicious when the center was under construction. Kids would ride by on their bikes, asking what the catch would be for hanging out there.

No catch, Jensen would tell them. Just show up.

Now, when Jensen is outside cleaning the wide front windows, people walking by on their way to Horseman’s Grocery whisper, “Thank you.”

There is just one rule at the center: respect. Respect yourself, respect others, respect things.

The mantra is written in black Magic Marker at the entryway, not to be forgotten.

“You can see it in their eyes,” Jensen said. “Some have no idea what respect is.”

Self-respect comes through the education component.

Staff member Jenny Hutchens, 20, a sophomore education major at Whitworth, tutors the kids.

“Because I’ve worked here from the beginning, I’ve seen changes in the kids,” she said. “You know right now you’re impacting their lives.”

Jensen tells of a third-grader who attends nearly every day. In the fall, his teacher told center staffers the kid was simply a D and F student.

He attended tutoring at the center all fall and came back from Christmas break clutching two papers with As on them.

“Now he’s passing in all his classes,” says Jensen. “And we haven’t even worked with him on all his classes. He just got that sense of hope and accomplishment. If you can do that, all things are possible.”

So far, 211 kids are on the center’s list. About 40 kids make it to the center on any given day.

Among middle school-aged patrons, the consensus is clear: It’s either this or total boredom. Many said they had friends who succumbed to that boredom, drinking on the weekends.

Last Friday night, a dozen or so baggy-jeaned middle schoolers tossed a soft fuzzy football in the rec room.

“I’d just be home watching TV otherwise,” said Daniel Shafer, 14.

Shafer said he’s been coming to the center since it opened.

He proudly points to two white pillars in the center of the room, splashed with red and blue painted handprints.

“I’m on the wall,” he said. “One of those is mine.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HOURS OF OPERATION The East Central Campus Life Center is open five days a week. The hours are: Monday, 3 to 6:30 p.m. elementary. Tuesday, 3 to 6:30 p.m. elementary; 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. middle school. Thursday, 3 to 6:30 p.m. elementary; 7 to 9 p.m. middle school. Friday, 3 to 6:30 p.m. elementary; 7 to 10:30 p.m. middle school. Saturday, 7 to 10:30 p.m. middle school.