Rockford Youth for Christ to launch new center for at-risk youth programs

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The Rockford chapter of Youth For Christ, a national organization co-founded by evangelist Billy Graham, is preparing to open a recreational center on Charles Street to offer after-school activities.

The youth center will go into a former warehouse at 2501 Charles Street, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday.

“We identified this area, specifically on Charles, in such close, close proximity to East High, Lincoln, Middle School, and local neighborhoods, as an area where youth would have easy access,” said Stateline Youth For Christ executive director Haddon Anderson.

Stateline Youth For Christ has been working in the Rockford area for more than a decade, helping teens facing various obstacles in life.

“[The kids are] saying, ‘Hey, man, we need our own spot. We need our own place that we can go to where we can be ourselves,'” said the organization’s City Life Director J.R. Flannigan. “So, what we try to do is try to take to those suggestions and truly believe that, ‘hey, we’ve got a center coming, and it’s just for you.'”

“[Stateline Youth For Christ is] in our Juvenile Detention Center and it’s at our schools,” said Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara. “And now, we’ll have this center. It’ll be providing mentorship and leadership and instilling strong values in our youth and providing more hope and opportunities.”

The center will be finished in phases, offering activities, religious instruction, and teaching life skills students can use for later in life.

“We really want to break trauma. We want to break depression. We want to break anxiety. We want to break on the fact that some of them feel like they’re worthless and useless,” Flannigan said. “We want to give these youths hope so they’ll be able to make a difference in our community.”

The youth center is expected to open in the fall and offer after-school activities.