By Corvo Rohwer, Puyallup Tribal News
Whether it’s afterschool programs, youth culture activities, community dinners or trips to family fun centers, it all starts with the Little Wild Wolves Youth and Community Center.
The youth center is specifically focused on providing opportunities for Puyallup Tribal youth, whether that be fostering a safe place for kids to come and spend their free time or organizing monthly activities for families to participate in.
Led by Director Lisa Earl, she believes the center provides a healthy place for families to gather with their children, citing the community dinners they host as an event she enjoys holding.
“I feel it’s important for the community to stay connected in healthy environments, and I always felt that we all live in the same community, so everyone is welcome,” Earl said. “To come out, share a meal and share stories, because people don’t make time for that as much anymore.”
It’s significant to Earl the community is involved with these programs, whether they are attending with their families or offering their time to help with set-up. She went on to describe the value of the youth seeing their community members involved.
“I feel it’s important for our children to be well-rounded with their community to provide those social and networking skills,” Earl said. “It provides so much support that those children need.”
The community center hosts a wide range of activities for the youth, including movie nights, open gyms and sports activities. Youth Activities Coordinator Phillip Dillon reiterated the importance of ensuring the youth always have access to a safe and healthy place to spend their time, especially during late evenings.
“It has always been my belief that the hours between nine and 11 o’clock (p.m.) is a critical time for kids where they get in trouble doing whatever,” Dillon said. “So, if we can get them in the gym playing basketball at least they’re off the streets doing something positive.”
The department has been hard at work developing more programs for the youth to engage with, including opportunities for teens to get directly involved in the process.
The Little Wild Wolves Camp, for example, has been a space where the department has been able to hire youth counselors to assist with activity implementation in their own way.
“That’s my special highlight, is getting those older children mentoring the younger children. … I just want to say how grateful I am that we do have this much needed place for our children in our community to be able to share culture, to laugh, to play and spend that valuable time together,” Earl said.
Building on the solid foundation the department has built, Earl also mentioned they have future plans to increase outreach for the teens in the community.
“We have been waiting for quite a while to open a teen drop-in center,” she said. “There are hours where teens are likely to get into some mischief, and with the Tribe developing the new admin building we’re going to be able to use our building seed to create a teen center.”
While there isn’t currently an outline for when this center would be developed, Earl said the process is something they are building on and looking forward to with optimism.
If you’re interested in getting involved with Youth Center activities, you can reach out to YouthCenter@PuyallupTribe-nsn.gov, call 253-680-5680 or visit their Facebook page, where monthly activity flyers are frequently posted.
