Sun staff
Founded in 2015, Empower Youth works with Bethel kids to instill the confidence and resources needed to break through generational poverty.
The nonprofit aims to help kids set and reach goals by building a strong sense of community.
“We want to make leaders out of these kids. We want to empower them,” said Lori Conley, co-founder and executive director of Empower Youth. “We want to take kids’ dreams and make them go higher.”
Conley, a resident of Batavia, is the children’s minister at Community Christian Church in Bethel. She and her husband, along with several other members of the church, started Empower Youth using personal funds.
“Empower Youth just happens to have people from our church involved, but it’s not associated with church in any way,” she said.
Conley started working at CCC four years ago. She said her work made her aware of the growing needs of kids in the community.
“At first, we didn’t have a lot of kids enrolled in our church program. At the start of 2014, we had 40 kids, and by August, we had 100,” she said. “We found out that kids in our community have a lot of needs, like food, clothes, school supplies, tutoring and Christmas gifts.”
In 2014, Conley outspent her budget by October trying to help meet the needs of the kids.
Empower Youth is currently running a summer food program, which offers kids and parents in Bethel a free meal every Wednesday. The program runs through August 12 at Burke Park from 6 – 8 p.m. Free meals are also available to children who attend alone, Conley said.
“Often times, parents don’t have enough money to feed their kids,” said Conley. “Parents may not come to our church, but they’ll come to a picnic, and that’s great because we want to help.”
On average, Empower Youth serves about 300 meals weekly, which costs the nonprofit $250 to $350. Conley said that she always tries to include fruit in the meal, since many families can’t afford or don’t have access to fresh food.
“Bethel no longer has a supermarket, and a lot of families don’t have access to food,” she said. “Our program is so grassroots. We’re always looking ahead to see what is on sale so that we can buy the best food based on price and nutrition.”
Empower Youth also offers music and games on Wednesday nights, to help families kick back, relax and enjoy each other’s company.
“Empowering Youth creates family interactive time. No one is watching or judging. We just want to give families the tools to play and have a good time,” said Conley.
She added, “We don’t want this to be a church event, we want this to be a community event. Our focus is to build trust in our community and to start forming relationships that will encourage parents to allow their children to participate in a weekly tutoring program in the fall.”
Empower Youth is meant to be a gap filler between the education system and churches, according to Conley. Through grant funding and private donations, she hopes the nonprofit can offer social services to families in need.
“Sometimes, we look at someone and assume what they need, but we can’t assume,” she said. “It’s not just about poverty. We realized there are a lot worse things than poverty. The need is about educating parents or getting to know the kids, because it can be hard [for parents] to meet the needs of children.”
In addition to serving free meals, Empower Youth has made it possible for 50 underprivileged kids to attend summer camp at Woodland Lakes Camp in Amelia.
It costs Empower Youth $250 per child to send them to camp, and this year, the Empower Youth raised $7,000 for the program through yard sales and private donations.
“This week we have six kids at camp who have never been to camp before,” said Conley.
She explained that many young kids act as the caretakers for their families, and going to camp provides them time off from their responsibility.
“These kids get a chance to go camp and explore all sorts of things, like zip-lining,” she said. “Even so, if these kids come back and all they say is that they liked the macaroni and cheese, well that’s worth it because they got the chance to be a kid.”
Future plans for Empower Youth include offering cooking classes for parents and partnering with the local school district to help procure school supplies, tutors for a tutoring program and transportation for kids when they return to school in the fall.
“We want to hype up whatever the school is doing,” said Conley. “For a community like Bethel, it’s about people helping people and building our own network. We can make a difference here.”
She added that many community groups and leaders are involved with the nonprofit.
“The Girl Scouts have gotten involved, and the police chief is at the park every week, just trying to meet folks. School teachers are also stopping by to build relationships before they get into the classroom,” Conley said.
“People care, and some of the relationships people are building are amazing. The community is building into a closer community, and this is exactly what we want.”
Conley is proud about what Empower Youth has been able to accomplish.
“So far, everything has been really great. It’s very exciting to see the same people come back every week,” said Conley. “When people us ask why we’re doing this, we say it’s because of community.”
She added, “I feel great. I feel like it’s going exactly where it needs to go.”
Empower Youth will continue to serve free meals each Wednesday for seven more weeks.
To contribute to the summer program or any Empower Youth program, or to get more information on becoming a volunteer, please visit the Empower Youth website at http://empoweryouth.me/.