BRUNSWICK — When Jordan Cardone first became involved with an effort to create a teen center in Brunswick, she was in the same bind as many area parents.
“I was working full time and my kids had nowhere to go after school except home alone,” Cardone said. “They were too young to do that alone and they were too old for day care.”
Years after the Brunswick Teen Center’s founding and merger with People Plus, Cardone will leave her post as program coordinator for the Teen Center, located at 35 Union St. She’ll leave the position in about a month.
With four grown children in the area and a grandchild approaching the teen years, Cardone said the move comes at the right time for her, but is bittersweet.
“I’m going through a very difficult process leaving this position,” Cardone said. “(The teens) need someone so badly and I wish I could be there for everyone forever, but I can’t.”
Cardone said she will likely return to volunteer at the organization — “because the Teen Center always needs volunteers,” she said — and that she’s looking forward to spending more time with her family.
The toughest part about the move, she said, will be leaving the teens who need a strong advocate.
“It’s a demographic that really needs support,” Cardone said. “Some people are uncomfortable around (teens) and don’t understand them. They need an advocate. It’s not an easy job, but it’s a big job.”
In fact, it’s the only job in which Cardone said she feels she made a real difference every day she walked in the door.
“They really just need someone and they are so appreciative,” Cardone said.
From humble beginnings in the basement of People Plus’ former Noble Street location to its current location on Union Street, the program has filled an important need by giving teens a safe place to go after school, Cardone said.
The organization is reviewing its programs and considering finding an expanded space that would provide the ability to include more outdoor or physical activity space, according to Cardone.
Beyond her time at the Teen Center, Cardone said she hopes the program retains its drop-in program, where teens can come in at no charge after school.
“There are not a lot of after-school programs at no cost for kids once they reach junior high age,” Cardone said.
To provide those services, Cardone said, it has taken more collaboration from community organizations than when the Teen Center first started in the mid-2000s.
“A lot more (organizations) are collaborating as funding is becoming scarcer for all nonprofits,” Cardone said. “I think that will be a big benefit to all of the programs that serve youth.”
Among those groups, Cardone said, are the Riverview Foundation, the United Way and a new area collaborative that she said formed to discuss youth issues, which she said often focus on access to services in the form of transportation.
Recently, she said there has been more discussion of what is available for teens and what presents a barrier to teens seeking those services.
For now, Cardone said she’s sticking around to support the program’s annual April 5 gelato fundraiser and free SAT preparation courses through the spring. Her departure date is flexible, depending on when a replacement program coordinator is found.
As for her life after the Teen Center, Cardone said she has “a lot of other people out there who want more of my time, so I’m going to share some of it with them.”
Information about applying to become the next Brunswick Teen Center director is available online at http://ow.ly/9Pjpk.
dfishell@timesrecord.com
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