ESTEVAN — The Estevan Public Youth Centre (EPYC) hosted an open house on Wednesday with the executive director and board members onsite to answer youths' and parents' questions about the organization.
While technically the EPYC is in its third year, it saw a slower start during the pandemic and moved into its permanent facility just a year ago. The move allowed them more stability, and now they are looking forward to further growth and development, welcoming more local youths and are always seeking volunteers.
Adam Elliott, EPYC's executive director who started early this year, said things have been going really well. He had quite a few youths of different ages utilizing their space and participating in different activities offered throughout the week and on the weekend.
"I have a lot of really good kids coming in and made some very interesting connections with them. It's been so much fun," Elliott said.
Elliott adjusted some processes and also moved some things around when he started, which "threw a bunch of youth off”, he said. But it allowed for more open space for activities, and eventually, patrons got to like the new setup and the fun opportunities it gave them.
EPYC has drop-in times Tuesday-Thursday for Grades 5-12, and Elliott said these days he has more younger patrons stopping by. Fridays and Saturdays are for those in Grades 7-12 only, and they can have the place for themselves until as late as 10:30 p.m. On Saturday nights, EPYC also invites their patrons to play Dungeons and Dragons, which is open for anyone in Grades 5-12. Elliott noted that Kessel Run Games, a game store in downtown Estevan, has given them a lot of board games for youths to enjoy and also helps youths figure them out.
Elliott said last month they had about 130 visits altogether, and each day he has anywhere from three or four to 20 youths attending.
"A lot of kids keep coming back," Elliott said. "We have different games and little tournaments. We had a pool tournament one night, we had blindfolded hide-and-seek, which is always interesting. We have just dance games and little contests on that. There is a lot of different things."
Elliott said he has a lot of different prizes for their tournaments as well.
The EPYC also tries to invite guests to provide youths with some useful information. They had a youth advocacy group come in, and are planning on a visit from a dog trainer who'd bring some animals with her and would teach patrons about them. Also, they've partnered with the Estevan Public Library and will be doing more interesting projects and activities with them this spring and summer.
Elliott is also planning on running a leadership program for youth in the near future. He hopes some of the patrons would take leadership roles and become more involved with planning and running EPYC's activities. The program will also help with community engagement and other aspects of their lives.
"I've talked to a couple already that are interested in doing it. And I said to them that it's not just you get to come in and you're the boss. You get to help run activities and panels, games, and if there's different events or fundraisers or things you want to do, we can do that. But then also part of it is you take this leadership program that we're going to do, and so you come in and we'll sit down and have meetings and go through these lessons of what it means to be assertive, and how we motivate others, and so on," Elliott explained.
He now has three programs that will run for several weeks each, teaching youths different aspects of being a leader. One is about assertiveness, the other one is on motivation, and another one is dedicated to respect and power. He plans on adding to this list as they progress.
EPYC board secretary Heidi Hesselink said the board is also looking into potentially expanding their programs and adding some mental health components that would help youths with self-esteem and more, and also start offering some opportunities which would be helpful for youths further in life.
The centre is always open to new kids to start using it. They are putting a lot of effort into reaching those kids that aren't busy with extracurriculars and letting them know that they do have a place to make connections, and develop their social and other skills that they need to be successful in the community.
To keep their operations going, EPYC is running a cornhole tournament fundraiser at the Wylie-Mitchell Hall on April 29. The registration is now open, and the proceeds will help the centre with its operating expenses and allow for some programming opportunities for patrons.
There is no charge for people to come and watch the tournament, and board members said they hope the community will show up to cheer and hang out afterwards as there will be music and drinks available.
Elliott noted that he is also always looking for volunteers to join him in spending time with their youth.
"When it comes to volunteers, I don't care how old they are. Because there were some people that were like, 'I'm too old to hang out with teenagers.' No, you're not, because I got so many teenagers here that just want to hang out, play pool or play Monopoly. We have shuffleboard, or we just sit down and play video games. It's not a crazy running around thing. So even if you're a grandparent, you can still volunteer," Elliott explained, adding that he is also open to any ideas for programming.
If anyone is interested in volunteering at the EPYC or has ideas, they can contact Elliott through the Estevan Public Youth Centre Inc. Facebook page, call the centre at 306-421-3134 or just walk in any evening.
