The Penns Valley Youth Center (PVYC) is  a non-profit organization that helps students. The PVYC is a great place to go after school on Mondays and Wednesdays, the PVYC has an after school program (asp) from 3:30 (or whenever you get there after school) to 6:00 pm or 8:30 pm depending on the day. The director of the Youth center is Darren Narber. The PVYC also has a K-5 program for students in grades kindergarten through 5th. 

The PVYC has many opportunities for retreats, for example they just had the 2022 Reunite retreat at Lake Champion, New York. The theme of the retreat was to be reunited with God, they had sessions of sermons and worship. The retreat definitely changed the lives of many, including mine. When you go to the youth center you get to hang out with friends and learn about how God loves you so incredibly much.

I asked 5 questions to some of the staff at the Penns Valley Youth Center. The questions were, why did you choose to work here, have you seen a change in students since they have attended the youth center, as a staff member how have you provided hope, worth, and friendship to the students, how do you think the youth center could improve, and lastly do you as a staff member create special connections with some of the students.

The first person I interviewed was Amanda Fisher, I asked her why did you choose to work here, she then stated “I once was a teenager and I know how important it is to have mentors and adult figures other than your parents in your life to deal with things that you’re going through, so I wanted to be an adult in teenagers lives to help them walk through the hard times and the good times and be able to give back like others gave to me.” 

The next question was have you seen a change in students since they have attended the youth center, she responded with “It is really cool to watch students grow in maturity and in age and it’s really awesome to see where they start and then what they become as they get older. Being part of the center now for a year and a half I’ve been able to experience and see changes in many students and I’m excited to see that more as our sixth graders move through high school to see where they’re at come senior year.” 

I then asked, as a staff member how have you provided hope, worth, and friendship to the student, she then said “Being available is so important when someone just needs you there for them, to know that you’re available and willing to do whatever it is for them, to show up at sporting events and games, to support them at their musicals, to write letters and just be a friend is so important. Also to help them realize that there is hope in this life, they have worth, and I’m a friend.”

 The next question was how do you think the youth center could improve, she responded with “It does take money and people to make an organization like this work so to help the youth center to grow I think that it could use more volunteers and staff and more resources and funds to help provide food more often and craft supplies and sporting supplies and more funds for students to grow in their faith by going on retreats and being part of small groups. With that said the biggest thing that the youth center could gain more of is prayer from the community.” 

Then lastly do you as a staff member create special connections with some of the students, she then said “I would have to say that every single one of the students I would consider like my own son or daughter. I want to see the best for them I want to see them thrive and succeed and become the best they can be. The best way to do that is by coming along side of their families, by building community, by being friends with them, giving them hope, making them feel that they are worthy and loved and have friends at the youth center. It has been a joy to have so many kids call me “mom”.

The next person I interviewed was, Anne Narber, asked her why did you choose to work here, she responded with “Darren and I volunteered for a while and realized that PVYC needed more staff to come alongside the students that were attending the After School Program.  They needed staff that would be ‘all in’ and devote their time to developing strong relationships with students.  So, we changed careers and moved into full time positions at PVYC, and it has been a great 10 years so far!”

I then asked her, have you seen change in students since they have attended the youth center, she then said “Yes, in some, the students that come and invest their time and get connected tend to grow and become more confident in who they are and what is ahead for them. The longer the students are involved at PVYC, the greater change we see in their attitudes, work ethic and just overall behavior.” 

The next question then was, as a staff member how have you provided hope, worth, and friendship, she stated “The biggest thing I can offer our students is my time and a listening ear. I think there’s so much comfort in knowing that someone is ready to listen and help a student in any way. Darren and I have always had an open door policy at our house and our phones are always on. We love doing life with our students and families. Life is so difficult and there is hope knowing that our students and families don’t have to do life alone.  No one should have to do life alone. PVYC’s priority is to walk beside our students and families to help bring health to the individual, family and our community!” 

Next I asked, how do you think the youth center could improve, she stated “I always think there is room for improvement in all that we do at PVYC. We have been blessed with amazing staff that help to take care of all our students and families. I would like to offer more staff training to our team to help them better care for our students. I would also like to add more diversity in our Art and STEM projects as well as offer workshops for our students and families on different topics.”

Lastly, I asked, do you as a staff member create special connections with some of the students, she replied with “I spend time developing relationships with our students, parents and families. We care deeply that our students and families are seen and heard. If I don’t have the availability to connect with a particular student, I will find a staff member to meet with them. In my current role, I spend much of my time developing our staff team and feeding into them so they can deepen their relationships with our students and families. “

As you can tell the Penns Valley Youth Center is a well organized place that does provide hope, worth, and friendship. You also have the opportunity to see how the youth center can help you! You can join us on Mondays, and Wednesdays for the after school program! On wednesday you can stay till 8:30 for dinner and worship, and on Saturday you can sign up for the table, which is youth group but for your entire family. The Penns Valley Youth Center welcomes you no matter what!