Community center based in Christian faith

By Linda Linonis

Located on Youngstown’s West Side, the center operates solely on donations and grants.

YOUNGSTOWN — It started off as a youth group at Solid Rock Church and has grown into Representatives of Christ, a community center on the city’s west side.

Justin Wagner was director of the youth group and saw Solid Rock close about six years ago. But that didn’t deter him.

“I had a vision to open a place with a safe and loving environment,” he said. And he has worked to create a ministry to help youth and community residents. The ministry, which has operated for four years, relies on donations and grants to operate.

“Representatives of Christ is based in Christian faith,” he said. Prayer and Bible study are part of the program but there are social and recreational components as well. Services are at 7 p.m. Wednesdays and 3 p.m. Sundays.

On weekdays during the summer, ROC is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and when school is in session, from 4 to about 10 p.m. During the summer, participants may have breakfast there at about 9:30 a.m. and lunch. Mahoning/Youngstown Community Action Partnership (MYCAP), a non-profit agency administering 11 programs for children, seniors and the homeless, provides the meals through its food services program.

“We get from 25 to 30 kids in the summer and 20 to 40 during school,” Wagner said. “Some of the kids are dropped off and others walk here.” He said parents and guardians of children must fill out applications, which provides contact information, some background on the child and any allergies or medications that they are taking.

Young people engage in recreational outlets such as flag football, basketball, video games, pool and board games. ROC attracts participants from 4 to 18 years old.

“We’re Christ-centered in scope,” Wagner said, noting that Bible lessons focus on the meaning behind the passages. Ideas from the Bible are offered as words to live by. He cited Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

“Life skills segments might deal with self-respect, behavior, violence and personal hygiene,” Wagner said. He said the center has a “three strikes you’re out” policy. “The majority of the kids get along,” he said, but emphasized there has to be safety for all. “Some kids come from homes where they are no rules,” he added, noting ROC gives them guidelines to abide by.

Wagner said he uses Christian concepts to deter kids from name-calling and cursing. “We want to teach them and focus on positive-oriented things,” he said. “And we want to help teach them about making the right choices.”

ROC’s large meeting room is divided into an area for playing basketball or other such games, a few couches grouped together to create a place to hang out and talk, tables for playing cards and board games, a pool table area and the ROC Cafe, which will be opening soon.

“Kids want structure,” Wagner said. Though kids can come to ROC and hang out, there also are structured activities. A boys’ group, supervised by Wagner, and a girls’ group by Jasmine Garcia, are directed at the teens. In the groups, participants may share their feelings and frustrations. “I think it’s about empowerment,” said Garcia, 19, who has a 3-year-old. She’s at ROC through the Work Experience Program of Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. She said she shares her first-hand experience with the group. “It’s a place where they can express how they feel,” she said.

Garcia also was blunt about another aspect of the group — “they stay off the streets. I think this helps them with self-respect,” she said of the conversations among the participants.

Wagner said the boys’ group also deals with “respect, responsibility and self-esteem issues.”

The two groups also discuss sex and abstinence. “We talk about marriage and how to treat one another,” Wagner said.

Wagner said he envisions the ROC Cafe as a teaching tool. “I think it will teach responsibility and honesty,” he said, noting the young people who work behind the counter will earn a small salary.

“I’ve seen changes ... for the better ... in the kids who come here,” Wagner said. “I just hope it follows them out to the street.”

Wagner said he is realistic about the situations some of the young people are in. ROC is a haven that provides safety, discipline, comfort and food that some of the young people lack at their homes.

Steven Haywood, 17, an East High School student, said, “It’s fun to come here and it’s something to do.”

He also mentioned being “off the street.”

His 15-year-old sister, Thomasina Haywood, said ROC “is relaxing. I like to play the games.”

Evan Lee, 18, said ROC “gives me something to do.” He said all the activities are something positive. The young people are from the South Side, and Wagner gives them a ride to the center.

Janet Wagner, Justin’s mother and volunteer at the center, said the ROC is the former Sam Camens Center on Salt Springs Road. She explained a neighbor bought the building located near his property and, through mutual friends, offered it to ROC to use. “I go where I am needed,” Janet Wagner said, noting she helps with the mail and expenses.

She said the center has about 14 volunteers from the South and West sides.