What’s Up at The DEPOT?

We’re glad you asked!

There have been SEVERAL exciting things happening at The Depot over the past 7 months with plenty more exciting things on the horizon!

Below are highlights of the Recent Accomplishments and the Vision and Expansion Efforts and Ideas for things to come.

RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• We celebrated being open to Teens for 5 years on January 27th, 2022. This is significant as only one of the previous four Teen Center organizations in East Jordan over the past 50+ years lasted as long as 4 years with the others even less than that.

• After meeting for two years at the now-closed Community Center, followed by two years of shuffling between various facilities and random activity locations due to COVID-related concerns and restrictions, we re-opened with a new “Home” in the lower level of the St. Joseph Parish Hall on Friday, October 8, 2022.

• As of April 2022, we have provided a “Safe Place to BE” and a weekly hot meal for over 90 teens from more than 70 households in East Jordan, Ellsworth, and Boyne City since the October 8th re-opening date.

• Our typical Friday attendance ranges between 25-40 Teens depending on various after school activities that are happening on any given Friday and/or inclement weather and the Teen’s willingness to walk from school to The Depot while it is raining, snowing, and/or in extremely frigid temperatures

• We opened our doors on Tuesdays, for a 2nd day of the week, with educational-type programming – tutoring, unique classes, and a quiet place for doing homework. Laptops are also available to check out for doing homework. This is especially valuable for Teens that do not have a computer or internet access at home.

• We have curated and are providing a 6-week Financial Literacy class – “Minecraft Money 101: How Not to be Broke as a Joke!” It will teach the fundamentals of Budgeting, Saving, Credit, and Debit to 9th-12th graders using the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace curriculum that is designed specifically for Teens. The Teens will receive a very comprehensive 344-page full-color textbook and a one-year subscription to access all the content, activities, and resources through RamseySolutions.com. We envision this class being provided multiple times throughout the year and have a follow-up class offered with topics such as investing, giving, and college/career preparedness.

• We have provided cooking classes where the Teens learn how to read recipes, prepare and measure ingredients, and take the prepared meals home to cook for their family’s dinner.

• We have provided several Teens with coats, hats, scarves, and/or gloves. Many of these items were purchased or made available at Crossroads.

• We have assembled and are still adding to a core group of passionate volunteers.

• We creatively created a new fundraiser – “The Frozen Pancake Olympics” – that was well received by the community with sponsorship support from several businesses.

• We added a library of age/content-appropriate books for the Teens to read while at The Depot or to check out for a period of time. We are continually looking to add to our current collection of donated books.

• Several of the Teens participated in the 2021 Holiday Parade as members of a Live Nativity Scene on a parade float and at Gar Park where they engaged with folks while walking to the festivities following the parade.

• A few Teens and the Program Director volunteered a couple of times to shovel snow out of the wide-open basement that will soon support a new Habitat for Humanity home on 2nd Street just north of the downtown area.

VISION AND EXPANSION EFFORTS AND IDEAS

• Accessibility Goal: To provide access to The Depot and/or Depot-related programming 3 days a week by the end of this summer and 5 days a week by the end of 2022.

• Financial Goal: To raise $100,000 by the end of 2022 thru grants and fundraisers as well as one-time donations and monthly pledged donations from businesses, churches, organizations, and individuals.

• Volunteer Goal: To assemble a core team of 40 volunteers that can serve in various capacities as their availability allows throughout any given week, month, or year.

• We will provide a wide variety of life skills classes and programming such as:
  • College and Career Preparedness workshops
  • Resume writing and completing job application workshops
  • Community and Personal Leadership Development training programs
  • CPR and other health and emergency preparedness training classes

• We will provide fun activities and opportunities for the Teens to become engaged in the community to give back for the overwhelming support they receive from them.

• We are currently developing an e-mail newsletter that will provide updates on what we’ve been doing, upcoming activities and events, and testimonials from the Teens. It will also highlight all the blessings of support that The Depot receives that support our operations which, in turn, allow us to positively pour into the lives of our community’s Teens.

• We are looking into how we could provide a shuttle service from the schools to The Depot on inclement weather days

Stay tuned for more updates on upcoming announcements, activities, and events!