A youth after school drop-in program was made available through Greenwood Neighbourhood Place (GNP) last week, and so far the feedback has been positive.
“The reason it was formed is because the youth and a lot of people in town think that there's not much for teens to do in our small town of Sundre,” said facilitator Kim Free.
“In the big city there's programs and climbing walls and all sorts of interesting things like YMCAs, and in Sundre there aren't as many options.
“So in an effort to keep these kids busy in a positive type of way we're trying this youth drop-in thing.”
It's available after school on Tuesdays, and 17 people showed up on the first day.
“It was fantastic. We fed them, we played video games, they socialized, just hung out,” said Free.
“For a lot of these kids it's way more positive compared to what they would normally do, which is in most cases go home and be by themselves and play violent video games or that kind of thing.
“So we're getting them to be social and interact with each other.”
The program involves trained adult volunteers and is currently only open to high school students, she noted.
“We're hoping to expand and do things like art, maybe some drama, some karaoke and that kind of stuff with them too.”
