Teens Get Back to Thriving
Dear Friends,
You likely already know that after over a year of isolation, remote learning, canceled plans, and zoom everything, connection is what teens desperately need right now.
We can still make meaningful art and connect outdoors — and it feels great.
As caring community adults, and as a center with an unwavering focus on teens’ needs, it’s our job to create spaces for connections to happen, every way and everywhere we safely can. Here’s how we’re doing it, thanks to your steady support:
Everything outdoors that can be outdoors
Cars used to park there. Now kids do. Welcome to Drop-In!
Teens gather for Drop-In on the blacktop surface formerly known as Neutral Zone’s parking lot. We serve snacks outside, as teens hang out on folding chairs, with the back doors thrown wide open for critical indoor needs. As always, teens who come find supportive staff and other teens who share interests and talents, hardships and dreams. And often, (of course!) pizza. We found out that we can still make art, host concerts and have meaningful conversations. And it feels great.
When we have to be indoors, safety reigns
Everyone signs in with a temperature check, everyone wears a mask, and everyone keeps a healthy distance from each other when inside, using our large, well-ventilated indoor space. These measures keep the indoor space available for teens to meet up in person and enjoy being together after so much time apart.
In-person workshops — finally! — are powerful and satisfying.
So, what’s it like at Neutral Zone these days? Front line staff who interact with these young people every day see the impact.
Teens open up to NZ Program Manager Michael Hale: “Kids are telling me about how they relate and interact with the world. Most of the conversations are in relation to how they cope with the pressures of life whether that means using art, music, or theater as a way to channel their frustrations.”
Jenny Anne Koppera facilitates the NZ–based weekly partnership with Spinning Dot Theatre. She leads a group of teens already growing close as they talk about issues and craft performances about what matters to them now.
Jenny relates that the teens “have been in a place of surviving. By doing this work together, they move to a place of thriving again. They set aside this time to play together, to be vulnerable and be soft and gentle with one another. They are so brave, they share their own stories together and find ways to express and share those experiences.”
It’s powerful, satisfying and essential to meet up with your community in-person. At last, thanks to our donors, they can.
Nadim Azzam, NZ Music Production Coordinator, built a teen music community virtually at first, with regular staff check-ins,then hybrid, conducting teen workshops and now — finally! — in person. It’s powerful and satisfying.
“We’re building a creative community where we support each other in the music they are creating and also with the sometimes really major losses and crises that teens are facing. No matter what else is going on, teens know we are here to support them regardless.” - Nadim Azzam
As a Neutral Zone donor, you help create these essential opportunities. When teens show up, you make sure we’re here for them. You help keep our doors open to build connections, create artistic opportunities, and give space to share frustrations.
Please consider donating again today to sustain a community that young people know they can count on.
Thank you,
Lori Roddy
Executive Director