Photo by CLARE JENSEN
NEW YOUTH CENTER COORDINATORS PHILLIP DILLON AND ROSLYN MCCLOUD.
The Puyallup Tribal Youth Center has always aimed to provide safe, positive activities for young people in the local community.
Two new youth center coordinators, Phillip Dillon and Roslyn McCloud, hope to continue that mission by providing increased programming, support and activities to a growing number of tribal youth.
Phillip Dillon joined youth coordinator Nancy Melendez as an emergency hire in September after former youth coordinator Lucia Earl-Mitchell left the position in summer 2009.
In December, Phillip Dillon was hired on for the permanent position along with Roslyn McCloud, making a total of three coordinators to take over the operation of the Puyallup Tribal Youth Center, which has been run by only one or two people for many years.
With the work divided among three people, the team is able to provide more support to each other when needed and also begin to offer more programming at the youth center.
The goal is by offering more daily activities and events, and by increasing support to families, the youth center’s numbers will continue to increase, and more youth will be involved in positive, healthy activities and hopefully stay away from gangs, crime and drugs.
“We want to get more kids to interact with us so they are off the street,” Roslyn McCloud said. “We want to get their mind changed from that gang mentality.”
A group of about 200 kids is involved at the youth center in one way or another, whether it be through attending daily after-school activities and evening classes, or participating in weekend events such as roller skating on Friday nights and a recent Saturday ski trip to Snoqualmie Pass.
This year, the youth center has added Sylvan after-school tutoring to its schedule.
Cultural classes are in the works as well. Roslyn McCloud is working on a cultural curriculum for youth females that will offer beading classes, root digging and canning food. Phillip Dillon plans to work with the young males on a fishing series, which would include net hanging, fishing and smoking salmon.
In addition to the male cultural activities, Phillip Dillon’s primary work involves coordinating anywhere from 60 children on seven to 10 sports teams each season. As basketball is wrapping up, the youth center is gearing up for the next season of baseball.
“It’s not just about sports,” Phillip Dillon said. “When the kids come and play for me, they’re automatically accepted as (family).”
Phillip Dillon noted he has not always had an affinity for working with children until he began coaching youth sports several years ago. Now he values the relationship he has with the children at the youth center and sees the impact he, and his fellow youth coordinators, can have on the children.
“I didn’t have that male role model figure in my life that I can be for these kids.”
Puyallup Tribal Youth Center is always accepting youth to its after-school programming, sports teams and classes.
Youth coordinators are also always looking for support from youth coaches and activity
teachers.
Contact the youth center by calling Phillip Dillon at (253) 896-3691; Roslyn McCloud at (253) 896-3692; or Nancy Melendez at (253) 896-3694.
