It has been a great year at Building Twentyone!🎉

We started off 2023 with various programs such as learning various forms of painting techniques with acrylic paint, serving our community by helping out at Uplift Thrift, and learning the art of 3D sculpting! We also have had some fun Friday Night Live events to kick off the start of the year like Nerf Wars, St. Patrick’s Day, and Eggstravangaza. We then had the privilege of meeting new students and greeting current students during our summer programs! We hosted some incredible local businesses like Power of Water, Impression 5, REACH Art Studio, and Capital Area District Library!

Though the programs and events are some of our favorite things to reflect on, nothing can compare to the relationship building between students, volunteers, and staff. Our teen center started over a decade ago when we saw a need in the community to provide a safe space for middle school and high school students to come to. Studies show that between 3-6:00pm on weekdays students are the most likely to get into trouble. This comes as no surprise as it is right after school and typically students have a curfew and that curfew can be dinner time. Building Twentyone exists to provide an alternative. A common thing we see when students are bored is they will either isolate or hangout with people in settings that may raise concern. What we have seen at our teen center is students building relationships with other students and looking forward to coming to a common place where they can hangout and be together. Students NEED a meeting place where they can come and just be a kid, and be with people they enjoy in a setting that is safe and feels like a home away from home. We also believe it is important that they eat nutritious snacks, get help in their academics, and have caring adults help them find their passion and purpose.

We have also hosted two fundraisers that were both successful and incredibly FUN! We hosted comedian Jose Sarduy back in April for Comedy for a Cause where we laughed until our stomachs hurt! And we just had our Tailgate Fundraiser on November 9th where we ate a delicious meal, heart from our students, and were able to tour our new ninja gym! So many EXCITING things are happening here! Not only with our students, but with our new building. We are thankful for this season we are stepping into, and we cannot wait to share with you all the continuation of our building project.

This year has been full of new healthy relationships, incredibly fun programs, events that bring people together, and some major steps in building our new facility!

 

2023, you have been AMAZING!! And we cannot wait to finish this year strong! 💪