Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, December 13, 1993 TAG: 9312130109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Seven months ago, the center moved into a new building. The number of children it serves each day has nearly tripled. And in September, it increased the number of days youngsters could attend from three a week to five.
That has allowed the nonprofit after-school program do to an even better job of serving the children and the West End community, Hale says. But the expansion has also been a big drain on the center's budget.
"I've been here 10 years, and things have never been so tight - never," Hale said. "I guess we kind of went on faith that money would follow mission. But it's not happening quickly enough."
There is no chance that the West End Center is going to close. But if things don't get better, Hale said, it may have to cut back - probably by reducing the number of children it serves.
That probably would not mean turning away children who are already enrolled, Hale said. But the center might have to stop enrolling children from the waiting list as others move away or drop out.
Hale is determined not to let that happen. She says the the center is too important to the children who come each afternoon after school.
The program offers activities, educational speakers, field trips, snacks, tutoring and - most of all - an alternative to the lure of the streets.
The West End is a mainly working-class and low-income area several blocks from Roanoke's downtown. Crime and drugs have been a serious problem in the neighborhood.
Since its creation in 1979, the West End Center has provided a haven from all that.
Reggie Davis, 14, knows where he probably would be without the center: "Right in the streets, getting in trouble.
"I didn't want to come at first," Davis said. "I thought it was going to be boring. But it's turned out all right, so far."
Terri Jefferies, 16, a ninth-grader at Patrick Henry High School, says she probably would not be in school if it was not for the West End Center. "You have to be in school to come here."
That's one of the rules: Drop out of school, and you're out of the center.
To help its members succeed in the classroom, the center provides an extensive tutoring program, staffed by about 125 volunteers.
Julian Raney, a Roanoke General District Court judge, is one of them. The West End Center does "wonderful things for the community," Raney said. "The tutoring program just seems to be such a success. . . . It's been a very satisfying and enlightening experience."
Just a year ago, the center was cramped in a brick house on 12th Street Southwest.
This spring - thanks to an estimated $170,000 in donations of money, materials and labor - the center moved to its new home in a former social club at 13th Street and Patterson Avenue Southwest.
Since then, registration has grown from 100 to 150, and average daily attendance has skyrocketed from 27 to 76.
The budget has grown in a similar manner, from $77,000 in 1992 to $116,000 this year.
To keep the place running next year, Hale said, she will need $160,000.
The center, which is not a United Way member, raises money year-round. Hale says there have been times when last-minute donations have helped the center meet its payroll. "Just by the grace of God it comes through the door, just before I have to pay my staff."
The West End Center usually enjoys an increase in donations during the last two months of the year, which builds a cushion of several thousand dollars to start the new year.
But year-end fund raising has not been good in 1993.
Back in November 1992, the center had expenses of just under $6,700 and took in more than $9,100 in donations. Along with December's donations, that helped build a nice surplus to take into 1993.
This November, its expenses rose to about $12,000 - but donations dropped to $4,611.
"I think part of it is the economy," Hale said. "And I think part of it is we haven't cried loudly enough about the need."
She said the center's volunteer fund-raisers work hard, and the level of donations is tremendous. But the need is so great, Hale said.
Hale said the recent newspaper reports on the Roanoke Valley's high teen-pregnancy rate - and the resulting flood of letters to the editor - show that the services the West End Center provides are even more vital.
The center provides "self-esteem" and abstinence training, referrals to health care and many other services that social workers say are crucial to fighting out-of-wedlock teen pregnancy.
"We're already doing something that everybody knows there's a need for," Hale said.
That is why she believes donations will pick up to meet the need. "I just really believe the resources are out there."
Donations for the West End Center may be sent to P.O. Box 4562, Roanoke 24015. Anyone interested in volunteering may call 342-0902.
by CNB