A worthy cause
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Kurt Johnson
Merwyn Davidson’s legacy lives on.
Three years after the retired minister and goodwill ambassador passed away the impact of his life’s work continues to be seen and felt, with the most recent example visible now at the youth center he helped create. The 12th Street facility has been closed for the past two years, yet another victim of the COVID-19 pandemic, though a group of volunteers is now working to bring it back to life.
Paul Johnson was one of many local teenagers who spent a lot of time with his friends at the Aurora Youth Center, thanks to Davidson’s vision, leadership and countless hours of supervision. Johnson said that center meant the world to him around 2003, offering a place to go and be with his friends, play games and do activities, all at no cost. It was welcoming and inclusive, he recalled, making him and many others feel comfortable and included.
Johnson and a small group of like-minded parents want that feeling for their own children and are spearheading an effort to give the newly named Hamilton County Youth Center a fresh look and breath of energy. They are looking for other volunteers with a “vested interest” in the community to support the project in various ways, with hopes of re-opening the doors sometime in May.
This volunteer-based effort represents a noble calling, which could strengthen one of the many spokes in the wheel, as the saying goes, of our community. Aurora and Hamilton County are known for taking care of their own, and this youth center once was and could soon again be an important venue welcoming young people in need of a place to call their own.
Giving the center a face lift and bringing it back to life will take a lot of work, and some money, which is why support is critical. Group leaders report early success, though all involved understand how much time and effort will be required to not only open the doors, but help run the center and keep the community engaged in its operations.
One of the goals for the new and improved center is simply to reach more kids, a concept worth a closer look. Though having a place to go, hang out and be a kid is invaluable, the prospect of offering some value-added experiences that could potentially benefit kids and partnering local businesses, would take this to a whole new level, therefore broadening the center’s reach and impact.
At this stage of the game the Youth Center 2.0 project needs community buy-in. It’s encouraging to see a new generation of leadership take the reins at the center and hopefully make this facility a difference maker in young lives, just as its founder intended.
Kurt Johnson
