Community Center Seeks Funds, Volunteers as 75th Anniversary Approaches

The Westfield Community Center on West Broad Street is entering a milestone year with many not knowning about the work of the non-profit community group.

"We're having an identity crisis," said Thelma Smith, executive director of the Westfield Community Center.

The center, which is having it's 75th Anniversary in October, has been around for a long time but is barely utilized by Westfield residents. On Saturday, June 26th, the center held a community picnic in order to raise funds for its activities. The picnic was deemed necessary after the center split from its main source of money.

"A couple of months ago, the board made the decision to move away from the Westfield United Fund, which was a major source of funding," said Smith. "Now we're trying to replenish the funds."

The center provides a variety of social service programs for its neighborhood including a year round senior citizen program, a 41-week after school program and a nine week summer camp. The programs are similar to those of the Westfield Neighborhood Council, which has been struggling for funds since being denied money by the United Fund several years ago.

The senior citizen program provides elderly Westfield residents with transportation, a free lunch, activities, games, information and assistance, outings and a monthly newsletter. There is no membership fee or dues to be paid to be a member of the program: all you have to do, according to the program's brochure, is show up.

During the summer, a day camp is held at the center. With adult supervision, the children work on their social, recreational and educational skills. Educational projects are done; there are games, arts and crafts, gym activities and swimming; and a meal is served every day at lunchtime. It is a fairly comprehensive camp and is relatively well-priced.

One of the more popular programs in addition to the senior citizen services is the "Help a Child" program, whose purpose is to "[build] a foundation at the elementary school level to prevent...kids from becoming 'at risk youth' in the future." The venture is aimed at addressing the needs of special needs kids in the Westfield school system, so that they can grow and prosper later in life.

"Unless the special needs kids are given the help they require, they're not going to be able to succeed in junior and senior high," said Smith.

Most of the special needs children are still in the system and not at outside schools, which therefore leads to a fair amount of cooperation and involvement with the district and families. This, according to Smith, creates "a wonderful collaboration between the parents, the school and the Center."

"We like to think of ourselves as an extension of the school day," said Smith.

The center also has a relationship with Youth and Family Counseling Services through a grant through the Westfield Foundation, which allows a psychologist to come in to the after school program and occasionally talk to the kid about issues such as friends, bullying, etc.

But all of these programs wouldn't be possible without the participation of people in the community. Lawrence Wallace Brown, vice president of the center's board, said that he'd like to see more involvement all around, new board members, and perhaps more teachers getting involved with programs at the center. He also mentioned that donations are crucial, as they are needed for operation costs, and that a means of raising revenue would be nice. The most important thing however, Brown said, is involvement from the community members themselves, as the center cannot be what it is without them: "We need volunteers who understand that there are people in need."