By Mike Schnitzel
The youth center, called "The Centre," is located at 30 West Jamaica Ave., in the building that formerly housed the Valley Stream Masons.
The concert on opening night was called "The Awakening," and included performances by the Jesse Daniels Band, Crunk I.D., which performed an original stomp routine, and former New York Giants running back Lee Rouson, who spoke to the attendees about his life. Youths who attended spoke favorably of the performance, and the youth center in general.
"It was unbelievable," said Tommy Lajara, 19, of the performance. "It's not something they just did on the spot - they really took their time with it."
"We have a lot of new people who came the first night, and they have been coming back," said Santina Arrigo, 16. "It's a great place to go and hang out in a safe environment."
When Bishop lived in Buffalo 12 years ago, he wanted to build a community youth center. Since coming to Bethlehem Assembly five years ago, he has been working toward that goal. Three years ago the church bought a building in Mineola, but the youth programs that were being run there grew bigger than the available space in short order. Since moving into a new building on May 1, Bishop finally has enough space to accommodate all of the church's youth programs. "It's more organized and much larger now," said Nick Nuzzolo, 17, who attended the youth center at its previous location. "Compared to how it used to be, it's 10 times better."
Bishop expects the youth center to host to between 100 and 150 students on a given day, with around 120 involved in the center's weekly programs. Youth from grade seven through college are the center's target demographic.
"This youth center is open to everybody. There is no charge, and anybody can walk in," said Bishop. "They don't have to be Christian or Catholic or belong to any church."
Bishop has planned a large array of activities for youths to participate in at the center. Activities currently available include concerts, pool, foosball, a game room with PlayStation 2 and X-Box. There are also activity groups, including a music team (that meets Mondays), a drama team (Tuesdays), and Crunk I.D. (Saturdays), a stomp team that holds performances similar to those of the famous Broadway show "Stomp," in which everyday items are used as musical instruments. "We hope to do one concert a month, and there will be special seasonal things happening on weekends, like in October we'll have a Halloween party," said Bishop.
Bishop has several initiatives that he hopes to start, which will help children. He plans to offer a program in which teachers will come to the youth center to tutor students in academic areas where they are having difficulty. The target date for the beginning of that program is September 26.
Also planned is a teen pregnancy network with preventive and post assistance, designed to help teens with the decisions about sexuality and offer classes for diaper-changing as well as counseling for those who have had an abortion.
A Big Brother/Big Sister mentoring program in the works is designed to connect troubled youths with mentors who can help them with problems big and small, and point them in a more positive direction.
Beginning in October, the youth center will hold seminars to teach children skills they will use the rest of their lives. Some classes planned include auto repair, cooking, and aerobics and health. "We're trying to help them for the future, not just their teenage moment," said Bishop.
Youth Ministry meetings are held on Wednesday nights. "Wednesday night is more of our spiritual moment, where we sing songs and open ourselves to the Lord," said Bishop. "Other nights are more about the fun, but it brings a nice balance - it's not just fun, it's something deeper and more meaningful. If we can provide God and games, all the better."
The youth center is funded by Bethlehem Assembly of God and donations from the community. The church pays the rent for the center as well as Bishop's salary. Members of the community volunteer their time to help him run the center.
"We've found a lot of support from the community, and it's been great," Bishop said. "A lot of the volunteers here today have put in their own time and money, and they do a really great job."
There are several goals that Bishop hopes to achieve at the center. He hopes it will be a place that provides a safe and positive environment for students, a place where students from Valley Stream can build relationships with other students and connect with the community outside school. Bishop hopes to partner with the two other youth groups in the area, the Valley Stream Youth Collaboration and the Valley Stream Youth Council, in building a sense of community.
"I can see us working together for a better relationship," said Kenneth Heino, president of the Valley Stream Youth Collaboration.
Ultimately, Bishop hopes that the youth center will be a positive influence on the lives of children in the community. "We want to see kids make positive, better lives," he said. "We want to help them make wise choices for the future."
The Centre is open on Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., and on Fridays from 7 to 11 p.m. For more information, call (516) 823-1676 or visit www.1mso.org.
Masons leave V.S.
The Masons, a presence in Valley Stream since 1953, closed the doors of its lodge, which is now home to the youth center, last December. Since then, the Valley Stream group has been meeting at the Rockville Centre Masons Lodge, at 28 Lincoln Ave. Meetings are held the fourth Friday of the month, at 7:30 p.m.
"Like all other fraternal organizations, we couldn't afford the increase in taxes," explained Salon Chalmers, lodge secretary. "Right across the street from us, the Elks sold their building - same thing with the Knights of Columbus on Rockaway Avenue. It came to the point where we couldn't afford the building anymore.
"We would have preferred to have kept our building," Chalmers said. "We loved it. It's unfortunate that it happened."
Comments about this story? NFalco@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
