{"id":13379,"date":"2012-08-26T09:41:21","date_gmt":"2012-08-26T13:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2012\/08\/glens-falls-youth-center.html"},"modified":"2017-11-08T11:13:51","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T16:13:51","slug":"glens-falls-youth-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2012\/08\/glens-falls-youth-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Recreation, Dinners, Tutoring And More Are Provided At Glens Falls Youth Center"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Matt Congdon, executive director of the Glens Falls Youth Center, has been helping out and working with area youths for some 28 years.<\/em>\n<\/div>\n

By Barbara Brewer La Mere<\/p>\n

Glens Falls Youth Center, 60 Montcalm St. in Glens Falls, is much more than a recreation place for teens to go after school. Though word-of-mouth about the center’s gym, air hockey, foosball, and physical training equipment may be the initial draw, the family atmosphere that brothers Matt Congdon and Bob Congdon foster at the facility may also be why they keep coming back.
\nThe Glens Falls Youth Center was established in 1968. It’s been at the current location for about 13 years. Matt, the executive director, has been with the center for 28 years. Bob, assistant director, has been there for 23.<\/p>\n

As many as 100 teens a day receive some aspect of the services the center has to offer, with a total of around 2,600 kids served annually, said the Congdons. The gender ratio is about 55 percent boys, and 45 percent girls.<\/p>\n

Matt, who holds a degree in physical education from Springfield College, feels he’s been trained from his youth to be in his current position. “I was one of these kids,” he said, referring to those who gather at the center. He feels a sense of responsibility “to fight for kids who are less fortunate.”<\/p>\n

He described the Youth Center’s former location on Elm Street as “old and run-down” with a dusty sofa reminding him of something from the set of “The Munsters:” television show. He decided that the Youth Center would not accept junk donations because he wanted to “get the best for the kids to help them to expect it for themselves.”<\/p>\n

Matt said there is a family commitment he and his brother feel to the teens, age 12 to 18, whom they serve. “We’ve treated them as if they were family and believed that they were family, and most of them get that.”<\/p>\n

Bob Congdon followed through on the family theme to the point of becoming the legal guardian for a girl who frequented the center, resulting in a drastically different life outcome for her, compared to those of her siblings who chose to remain in a difficult family situation.<\/p>\n

The Montcalm Street location features a lot of bright colors and new-looking equipment, much of it obtained from grants from a variety of sources. There’s a gym, a game and exercise area with pool tables, weight lifting and aerobic equipment, a study room equipped with computers, a kitchen and snack\/dining area and a small office space. Another services include tutoring, with time and space available for quiet study. There are also job placement and follow-up services.<\/p>\n

Dances and movies are among the special activities, along with presentations by a variety of speakers. Staff has even assisted girls needing help getting ready for prom by shopping for dresses, and helping out with hair and makeup.<\/p>\n

The United Way supplies most of the support for the center. But the center hosted its first fund-raiser barbecue this past summer, with teens working alongside board members to serve up meals. Trivia fund-raisers and sales of a $10 gift card good for discounts at several local businesses also help to support the center.<\/p>\n

A grant from an anonymous donor will enable the center to hire another full-time staff member to bring the total to four, including the Congdon brothers, in January, the brothers said.<\/p>\n

Matt Congdon credits West Glens Falls Community Chapel’s small but generous congregation with steadfast support of the center’s daily snack program. In addition to a daily snack for teens arriving after school, the center serves dinner daily at 5 p.m., free of charge, to all teens present. Staff currently serves dinner to about 60 kids a week.<\/p>\n

Teens wishing to participate in the center’s activities are required to be enrolled in school, working on a GED, or involved in Vo-Tec training. Counseling and referrals to address a variety of teen issues–from sexual matters to hygiene to substance abuse to suicide, domestic violence, and homelessness–are available.<\/p>\n

Teens are encouraged to inform their families of problems that they relate to Youth Center staff so that families can be involved in the referral process.<\/p>\n

Youth Center board president Debbie Hall is the principal at Big Cross Street School. She will be working with the center on a summer tutoring, lunch, and recreation program to help her students more successfully transition from Big Cross to Middle School Hours are Monday through Saturday, 2:30-8 p.m. The phone number is 793-5932. The website is at www.gfyouthcenter.org. E-mail can be addressed to gfareakids@yahoo.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matt Congdon, executive director of the Glens Falls Youth Center, has been helping out and working with area youths for some 28 years.By Barbara Brewer La Mere Glens Falls Youth Center, 60 Montcalm St. in Glens Falls, is much…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nRecreation, Dinners, Tutoring And More Are Provided At Glens Falls Youth Center - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2012\/08\/glens-falls-youth-center\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Recreation, Dinners, Tutoring And More Are Provided At Glens Falls Youth Center - 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