Nancy Dueck met Tina Waldner, both residents of Miami, about a year ago. Tina and her husband Bernie are longtime residents and Nancy and her husband Barry moved there five years ago. They quickly found they had something in common. They both saw a need in the community for a place for youth to go and have something to do.
Tina Waldner explained what brought their ideas together.
"We both kind of saw the need and both of us were passionate about it and wanted to be able to be available to meet needs wherever we saw fit. So, we really thought, 'Ok, there's a definite need for a youth program of some sort of youth center."
Waldner added why she thinks it's important to provide a place for kids in Miami.
"We often see the youth just wandering, and that's Ok, to go for walks and stuff, but they don't have a lot to do. A lot of times they're trying to find parking lots to skateboard in and sometimes getting kicked out of the parking lots. There's just not a lot of activities, not a lot of options for them. If they have their license, they might leave town, but otherwise, they're kind of stuck. There's great playgrounds coming in, but again, that's not the age group that uses playgrounds."
Waldner shared what happened next.
"We presented our idea separately in emails actually to the RM because they were looking for ideas. Council actually had us come and present together, just to see what we thought or what we could foresee it being. So, we presented some ideas that we had brainstormed together, and they kind of thought, 'Yes, there's a need.' and. 'We'll support you in this.' They had a building possibility for us and so it all moved pretty quickly, 'cause we really only did that meeting at the end of June."
At that time, the plan was to use the current Active Living Centre. The seniors were planning on moving into their new building set to open this summer, but a fire in the early morning hours of July 12th set the plan back. Waldner said they approached the seniors to see if they would be willing to share their space until the space could be rebuilt. They agreed.
Waldner thought it was a fantastic thing to see the two age groups sharing a space and is grateful.
She added another reason why this is so important for young people.
"The last couple years brought some more issues to the surface, and so you start seeing there are these hurting kids that need a place, right?" she tearfully said. Continuing, "And we can do something. This is the something that we're going to try to do to provide a place for them to just hang out, and be supervised, and have a safe place where they can get warm food and some snacks and stuff, and just give them an opportunity to be somewhere."
Wednesday nights grade 7/8 and on Friday night grades 9-12 can come 7-9pm to play games, eat food and maybe bake. Programming will expand more once the Activity Centre is rebuilt, hopefully this Spring.
Waldner is grateful for the businesses and individuals who have stepped forward to reply to their letters requesting support, financially, with items needed and to volunteer.
There is a vote taking place on their social media to name the new youth centre. To learn more, to donate or to get involved, join their Facebook group.