Youth at The center

Youth at the Center is a campaign to place young people and our voices, our needs, and our leadership at the center of development initiatives here in Santa Fe. The Southside Teen Center has been in the works for about a decade and finally we have secured the investment from City and State resources to invest in the much needed and much awaited Southside Teen Center. 

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It's finally happening!

Want to get involved?  
DM us or email us at info (@) earthcarenm.org

WHAT IS THE YOUTH AT THE CENTER CAMPAIGN?

The purpose of the campaign is multi-fold -

1. to support our youth in leading the design of the 10,000-square foot Southside Teen Center. 

2. to do so in a way that results in meaningful and ongoing participation and support from the surrounding community, and provides the opportunity for our youth to build leadership capacity as they identify professional, educational, and community development needs that can be met through the Center.

3. to identify additional community needs and assets to inform a more comprehensive community-driven development process for the area.

Who are our partners? Our partners in this initiative are many and the City of Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Public School District, and Santa Fe County have made meaningful investments in the process.

During the Fall of 2019, our team conducted workshops, gathered stories, and collected surveys to inform the design of the building and surrounding land. We combined results from our outreach with input from youth during the 2007 Youth Summit, the 2015 Youth Summit, and the 2017 Youth Summit because many generations of youth have contributed to the vision for the Center. (As early as 2007, young people in Santa Fe identified the need for a Teen Center on the Southwest side of the City).Thanks to our partners at the City, the State Legislature and strong advocacy from our community- the project received $3.9 million dollars in capital outlay funds for its construction.