There were 21 people who came together to talk about what
the Sanneh Foundation is doing and has
planned for the Conway Rec Center. After
a welcome and introduction from the Conway Community Advisory Group chair, Kris
Gjerde, the program director at Conway spoke. His name is Ofir Germanic, and he
comes to the Sanneh Foundation from working with the SP Parks and Rec
Department, most recently at McDonough Rec Center.
The Sanneh Foundation has only started running the center on
its own since Jan 1, 2015. Prior to that time, the center was jointly staffed
by both the Sanneh Foundation and St. Paul Parks staff. It is generally agreed
among those who witnessed the year of joint staffing, that the effort was not
particularly successful. After new staff was established and the center came
under the sole direction of the Sanneh Foundation (SF), that organization began
discussions with local schools about how to meet students’ needs. Discussions
with Eastern Heights Elementary started off this effort with SF staff meeting
with school staff and with Parent Assembly. As a result of those discussions
and discussions over the past year with users of the center, here is what they
have established so far:
1)
Conway Kids Time is held from 4-6 weekdays
similar to the old Rec Check program. But they have 30-40 kids per day
attending. They get a snack, homework help, art and sports activities – the
children attending are a very diverse mix of backgrounds;
2)
Basketball teams have been started that are not
tied to the city’s seasonal schedule, They have 18 and under, and 14 and under
teams; some of the teams they form may join the city leagues.
3)
The have two 10 and under soccer team and a 16and
under soccer team – 15 girls included in these teams. They are working with
Parks and Rec to join their soccer league;
4)
There is open gym every day from 2-4:30 and
every weekend day;
5)
They are open daily 9a to 10p. This is a huge
increase in the number of open hours for the center;
6)
Circle of Peace, in collaboration with Battle
Creek Middle School, is meeting at the center to eat and talk about kids’
futures;
7)
For
adults there is open gym every day from 8p-10p;
8)
They have some rentals to a local soccer club
weekly;
9)
They have started a leadership group;
10)
They are
recruiting for a girls group to make sure that girls and young women feel safe
and welcomed at the center;
11)
They are partnering with Youth Care – Safari in
the City to do resume building, and
field trips for youth;
12)
They have a program called “Breakfast Books and
Balls” (based on an earlier program started by community members) from 9a to
11a on Saturdays. This program includes homework help and games;
13)
They are working with a partner that gives
training and help getting ready for college – essentially extending what they
have done with soccer participants to all sports
14)
They emphasize that although they are fully
booked in the gym now, they are open to ideas from the community about other
things needed here.
15)
During tax season, tax preparation help is
available every Wednesday; Toastmaster
16)
They hold Toastmaster sessions;
17)
They partner with organizations focused on
foster care, and sponsor events to celebrate those committed to fostering our
children; (Including an event on March 7)
18)
The site remains a polling place during
elections.
Tony Sanneh spoke about their philosophy of full body
involvement – their programs are not just about soccer or even just about
sports. They are also about nourishing the body – meals and nutrition – and nourishing
the mind – focusing on academics and on meditation, for example. But space is
limited – there is no shortage of kids and adults who want to use the facility and
they are looking at needs of community and trying to serve all populations. He
acknowledged that it took some time to work out how they would operate at the
center and to find the right staff, but he and the Foundation now take full
responsibility for what happens at the Center.
Upcoming plans include installing a computer lab, bringing
Twin Cities World Soccer for adults, a Youthprise partnership that will offer
free hot meal for kids daily.
The discussion from attendees began with a concern about
lighting in the parking lot and potential drug deals after closure. This is
actually a city and park issue, not something that the Foundation is
responsible for. Luckily in attendance were Mike Whaley, Director of the all
the parks in this area, and Gwen Peterson, Director of Recreation Services for
the City. Park Police should be making regular rounds.
There were additional comments about wanting more landscaping
around the center. District 1 was able to talk a bit about the Library’s
collaboration with the Children and Nature Network and their upcoming efforts
to re-naturalize the park grounds (planting and celebration will be June 13!!).
There was recognition that ethnic diversity inside Conway Center
was increasing but there was some question about whether there were efforts to
help foster cross generational interactions. Sanneh staff spoke about their
work acting as a bridge between teachers and students their parents. SF wants
parent involvement. A goal to aim for may be bridging between youth and elders
who are neighbors but not family members.
There were several comments about the impressive array of
activities at the center, about the welcoming of visitors and demonstrations of
what was happening. There were some concerns from youth and others about staff
turnover at Sanneh and concerns for consistency of the adult presence. As Tony
stated, however, they acknowledge that it took some time for them to work out
how things would operate and who was the best fit. They will continually assess
their staff. There were suggestions to hire from the community and from among
the youth who consistently appear at the center. As always, there is hope that
there will be more opportunities for youth coming in to find out about jobs at
the center and elsewhere.
There was a question about other activities than soccer –
the big picture – noting that people play a variety of sports. SF noted that
the center has more basketball time now than there was operational time before –
that is there is more gym time just for basketball than there was for ALL
activities at the center before they moved in. Football last fall was also a
huge draw. They noted that they listen to everyone who is here – if more kids
come to play something, they will add more time for those activities,
recognizing that there is a limited amount of space. They have also applied to
Right Track program to get more youth jobs here for the summer and will try to
give the community more heads up for jobs that will be coming to get people to
be prepared for the jobs.
There was a question about winter sports outside and what was
happening for girls. SF stated that they are aware that girls want to make sure
they feel safe and respected, that they may need more rules and a dedicated
space so that girls feel comfortable. They have been able to do this with
younger girls because they have the numbers. They need to bolster the number of
older girls and young women by recruiting and empowering young women so they
are comfortable – it takes intentional thought process to get and keep girls
involved. As far as winter sports go ice rink was moved but they did take kids
for hockey over at BC once a week. (NOTE: meetings coming up with Ramsey County
about making Battle Creek a winter sports haven…)
Finally, one neighbor commented that he likes to see the
activity going on; it is great to be able to come across and watch games in the
summer, but since soccer and during the football season, he spends significant
time picking up garbage after the games every day. Parks staff committed to
placing more trash containers along where people are coming and going to their
cars.
The Chair of the Community Advisory Group noted that all senior
programs are all gone – something that the community originally wanted to avoid
happening – but this change was NOT a result of any action on the part of SF.
These programs were pulled out by Community Ed and were dispersed to other
locations. SF notes that they are in the process of bringing in a new senior
program and they hope to have open gym during the day for drop ins to walk in
the gym in the winter, for example.
The question was then raised as to how they plan to get the
seniors back in the building and have them interacting. SF mentioned mentoring
as a possibility – looking to see if it is viable here. They are also working
with county attorney around issues to prevent
violence toward women.
There was an on-going commitment by both SF and the District
Council to remain in communication about things happening.
The meeting adjourned about 8p.
Many thanks to the Sanneh Foundation for hosting the event,
to the Conway Community Advisory Group members for their work on behalf of the
Community, and to Parks staff for their participation and input. And special thanks to the youth who showed up to comment and contribute!!
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