Worcester Youth Center

The Worcester Youth Center is an educational, recreational and social facility for youth between the ages of 14-24, a place where youth are empowered and allowed to grow in all aspects of their lives. The Center started as a partnership between youth and adults. Opening its doors in 1994, the Center was the culmination of three years of planning by youth, city officials, other youth organizations, and adult advocates. Together, youth and adults envisioned a drop-in center that would be open to all adolescents throughout Worcester. It would charge no fees for membership or programs. Most importantly, it would be a place where youth could participate in operating the Center, shaping programs, delivering activities, and be voting members of the Board of Directors.

Today some of the most at-risk youth in the City of Worcester are actively participating in Center programs. For over 3,000 youth-at-risk, the Center has been and continues to be a “safe haven”. Most youth are from traditionally disenfranchised neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty, physically deteriorating surroundings, a shortage of affordable housing and areas with crime. Some of the areas the Center serves have been designated as a U.S. Department of Justice Weed and Seed Communities due to high crime rates, unemployment, absentee landlords, gang activity, and a concentration of drug trafficking.