New Haven Independent

Your Place Youth Center is an outreach program of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church at 155 Ivy St. It opened Monday for registration for its spring session. Pictured are the program’s director, Jane Jeuland, flanked by siblings Moet Bacote and Ebony Brown.

Jeuland has a budget of about $70,000, raised from several Episcopal parishes, other churches like Elm City Vineyard, and the International Association of New Haven, which is funding a cross-cultural initiative.

As she prepared a table for a dinner later Monday for the teens and adult volunteers — featuring glass glasses and real china — Jeuland said the program is open to teens across the city. “One of the key reasons for gang violence is neighborhood rivalry. As an organization we want to model collaboration across neighborhood lines.”

When asked if that could be dangerous, Jeuland replied, “The teens really like it that they can be here with kids from other neighborhoods and not feel unsafe. We don’t allow fighting or violence of any kind.”

Your Place began last summer, running a program for 40 teens, 30 of whom were referred by the New Haven Juvenile Review Board. To be eligible for the youth leadership training, they had to take two classes and participate in mentoring. They took a class on public speaking and wrote about their experiences with violence. They also had guest speakers like the mayors of some nearby towns who discussed their efforts to deal with youth violence.

Moet and Ebony got involved last summer and were ready Monday to sign up for the spring program. They had just walked over from their home on Read Street a few blocks away. The street has a rep for being one of the most dangerous in the city. Have they experienced that? “Not personally,” Moet, 14, said, “but there are fights and shootings and arguing.”

Ebony, who’s 11 and attends Jepson School, added, “We come here because we want to be different people and learn new things and learn to treat others fairly. We want to learn to help people. There are issues in this world and we want to help solve them.”

Moet said he wast referred to the program “because I got into an incident on the school bus — which is totally not me, but I had lost my patience.” He said he learned about anger management and took leadership, dance and photography classes, where participants took photos of themselves. “We saw how beautiful we are and learned to accept ourselves for who we are,” he said. “When we come here we can never feel alienated.” He said he passes out flyers trying to recruit other teens.

Moet, who loves to sing and who attends Coop High School, said he’s made friends with kids from Fair Haven, the Hill and the Tre (Dwight/Kensington).

Jeuland said the program has attracted 35 volunteers, including many Yale students. Registration for the free program runs until March 9; slots are filling up fast. Teens can stop by at 5:30 p.m. to check things out, and get a schedule. The program will sponsor a Community Focus Meeting on Friday night from 5:30-7:30pm at 155 Ivy St. for the teens, guardians, and others interested in learning about the program.

She noted several businesses and organizations that have already provided support: Diversified Employment, Subway, Wings Madness, Yale Divinity School, and Inner Dimensions. “The community can help through financial donations and volunteer hours,” she added. “We need volunteers to make dinners, help with administrative tasks, mentor and tutor, or carpool teens.” Volunteer must go through training and fill out several forms before volunteering. Those interested may contact Jane Jeuland at 203-507-4155 for more information.

The center grew out of earlier meetings by a group calling itself Enuf Violence. Click here for a story on that. For more info on the spring session, call 562-1080 or email here.