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The Grove Mail Tribune photos / Bob Pennell David Magill, 11, left, and Danny Meza, 10, take aim with their water guns along with other children at The Grove youth center in Ashland recently. AmeriCorps worker Michael Robinson is at far right. The Grove may be in jeopardy unless organizers can raise necessary funds - and enthusiasm - to keep it open. Ashland's family program hits a lull in getting the funding needed to survive By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune ASHLAND - No one ever said getting the doors open at The Grove, a local youth and family center, was easy. Early organizers endured community controversy, funding scares, construction hassles and the death of Steve Groveman, the visionary behind the project, all before final work was finished in March 2000 on the $1.2 million center. But they persevered, buoyed by community support that included as much as $400,000 in private donations and emotional encouragement from all quarters. "We had incredible momentum," said Debbie Wilson, program director for the site. Two years later, Wilson and officials for Community Works, the agency that runs The Grove, agree that the momentum has slowed. "A lull is a good way to describe it," Wilson said. And they acknowledge that the center aimed at area adolescents faces new challenges that go beyond raising the roof. If you build it, will kids come? And can you afford to keep it open? Those are the questions agency officials ponder even as they prepare to pitch the community that contributed to construction for more funds to sustain it. For answers, Community Works Executive Director Arnie Green and others have been meeting for weeks with local government, law enforcement, educators and community members with a stake in the center's success. "The whole vision at the core is that the community owns it," Green said. "What do you folks want?" Many of the discussions have centered on Community Works' need for help subsidizing the $150,000 in annual costs for the center. Prospective cuts in the state human services budget are threatening the agency's ability to pay for a program that doesn't pay for itself, Green said. Even with a lease that allows the building to sit for free on city land and about $10,000 in annual city and parks funds, support is scarce. "I don't want a bailout. I'm looking for the community to tell us what they need," Green said. In the next two weeks, the agency will kick off "Friends of the Grove," an effort to raise $20,000 for the site, part of a larger $90,000 agency development goal. Community donors contributed as much as $400,000 for construction of the site, but those funds don't pay for programs. "We haven't asked them to sustain it after we asked them so generously to build it," said Ed Roussell, new development director for Community Works. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease and we haven't been squeaking." If the help doesn't materialize, it could jeopardize the program. Green said he doesn't anticipate closing The Grove, but nothing is certain. "No option is off the table," he said. A couple of factors have contributed to the situation, Green said. The death of Groveman, the well-loved deputy director, was a blow to the agency in general and the project in particular. "He had the connections, he had the passion, he had the vision," Green said, adding later: "Because Steve wasn't around, I lost focus. I'll take responsibility for it." Whether community members respond now to The Grove's new plea depends largely on how much they value the program, observers said. No question, the need for a center to provide recreation and direction to area young people, especially at-risk kids, hasn't changed in the decade since the Ashland Teen Center set up shop in the basement of the local library. The push for The Grove grew out of five years of community conversations that concluded young people need space and activities to call their own. "No one feels those needs and problems have gone away," said Cate Hartzell, an Ashland City Council member. Like any fledgling entity, The Grove needs time and support to succeed, said Keith Moseley, a longtime advocate for the project. "It got off to a slow start. Give a business at least three years to get on its feet, and that's when you have finances. The money is always tight with nonprofits. Our own state government is cutting back social services." At the same time, questions linger about whether The Grove is reaching as many kids or as broad a spectrum of youth as envisioned. Jan Janssen, youth diversion officer for the Ashland Police Department, whose offices are next door to The Grove, is one of several community leaders to observe that few youngsters seem interested in hanging out there. "My hope would be we'd get back to looking at ways to get kids into the center, not only to buy into it, but to truly run it," she said. More than 1,700 young people participated in all programs sponsored by The Grove during the 2000-2001 school year, according to statistics compiled by Wilson. Most days, an estimated 40 kids show up between 3 and 6 p.m. for afterschool activities, with more for special events, she said. Getting more kids to show up hasn't been easy, Wilson acknowledged. Part of that is because so many Ashland parents keep their children busy in scheduled sports or other activities, she said. "The perception is, this is the place where the bad kids come," Wilson said. That's not true, of course, she said. On a recent afternoon at The Grove, there were no "bad kids" to be found, only a couple dozen youngsters twirling Hula Hoops, shooting pool, playing air hockey and baking cake with a Southern Oregon University volunteer in the center's kitchen. In the middle of the action was Groveman's son Alex, 15, who said he believes the place will achieve his dad's dream. "We have a full recording studio now," he said. "I don't think most kids know it's there for that." Still, attracting a wide range of middle- and high-school students has been difficult. "I don't think I've ever, personally, hung out here," said Ashley Graham, 16, an Ashland High School student contributing community service hours at The Grove. Part of the problem may stem from adults taking too much control of activities, said Ashland Mayor Alan DeBoer, who has supported the project politically and financially. "Unless it's owned by the kids and controlled by the kids, they won't go," DeBoer said. "You need to harness that energy with people who are 'kid magnets,' people who can build those relationships." Recently, The Grove seems to have acquired several staff who qualify as "kid magnets." Youngsters at the site gravitate toward AmeriCorps volunteers Michael Robinson and Jocelyn Streng and to newly hired program manager Matthew McClenahan. "It used to be really boring, then Matt came along and everything changed," said Chelsey Lang, 13, an Ashland Middle School eighth-grader. McClenahan, a charismatic 32-year-old, said the difference is not so much him as it is his philosophy: Let the kids run the show. "Maybe I did bring a new energy, but it's because I believe it's more about adults facilitating the process instead of owning it," he said. Under his supervision, kids at The Grove are planning several projects, including weekly community meals, volleyball clinics and a youth coffeehouse. "The more word gets around that it's a fun place to be, the more kids will come," Ashley said. "I think it will be a really cool place to hang out." Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.