Primetime Community Center provides alternatives, solutions

FORT WAYNE-Some folks are good at defining a problem; some folks are good at talking about the problem; some folks are even good at talking about a solution. Others are good at actually doing something about what ails us.

For the past 18 years, Pastor Luther Whitfield has dedicated his life to serving young people. While government officials, popular members of the clergy and social services representatives acknowledge something must be done about the recent wave of violence that has claimed the lives of at least 10 people in the city this month, Whitfield is already ahead of the curve.

He started his ministry of working with community youth nearly two decades ago as youth pastor for Calvary Chapel under Pastor Willie Bolden. Then, representatives from the area's Youth For Christ (YFC) ministries asked Whitfield to develop an urban program to help service young people whose needs often were overlooked by others.

For a time, he worked with YFC transporting central city youth to the faith-based organization's Hillegas Road facility. In 1996, Whitfield, with the support of YFC and generous contributions from a number of community sources, founded the Primetime Center- "A Ministry of Youth for Christ"- at 3701 S. Calhoun St., across from South Side High School. Primetime is designed to be "a full-service community center designed to meet the every-increasing needs of urban students."

"I needed to do something that     would bring some roots, residency to our focus," said Whitfield, explaining the development of the central city facility.

Whitfield and his staff indeed provide a full range of services that offer alternatives to the streets that have claimed too many young people over the years. Primetime Community Center provides programs including:

• Sports Ministry. The program provides a safe place for young people to go after school, with an emphasis on recreational activities including basketball, indoor soccer, dodge ball and occasionally volleyball. Jason Rahn is the program coordinator.
• Elmhurst Campus Life. The group, which meets at 7:17 p.m. Mondays, gathers for fun and life lessons centered on Christian values and principles. Becca Eleiott is the coordinator.
• City Life. This division of the center oversees day-to-day operations of the center and partners with Huntington University and Taylor University to offer educational resources to Primetime teens. Arthur Wilson is the coordinator.
• Girl Talk. Designed for girls and young women ages 11 through 18, the program offers participants the opportunity to be mentored by and adult who cares for and encourages them to reach their emotional, social, physical, mental and spiritual potential. The program currently is available for students at Kekionga Middle School and South Side High School. Ranada Clark is the coordinator.
• Hispanic Ministries. Dubbed the Positive Life Choices Program, this segment of Primetime is designed to reach out to young Hispanics with the goal of promoting educational awareness. In addition to providing adult mentoring, recreation leagues and an online educational program, Hispanic Ministries also provides and ESL (English as Second Language) program for adults. David Vielma is the coordinator.
• Juvenile Justice. The program provides weekly "balanced-life programming" and Bible studies to young people incarcerated at the Allen County Juvenile Center and Youth Services Center. The group also runs the Revolution Aftercare program in partnership with the Allen County Youth Chaplaincy program and local churches to provide students with ways to make positive choices when they return to the community. The program is coordinated by Eric Kelly, Dawn Marseilles and Ashley Hazel.

The multifaceted approach is designed to incorporate the five principles of the balanced-life concept under which the center operates: 1) promoting spiritual literacy in Christ Jesus; 2) promoting economic responsibility including skills to handle money and ways to be productive in the community; 3) promoting literacy, including encouraging students to graduate from high school and to go to college; 4) promoting health and wellness in partnership with the Health Center, particularly with regard to diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and hypertension, and 5) promoting civic literacy, encouraging young people to come back to the community after they've received educations, to help others.

In addition, every Sunday, Whitfield and staff put their noses to the grindstone to convert the facility, which underwent a multimilliondollar upgrade three years ago, into the sanctuary for New Covenant Worship Center, for which Whitfield serves as senior pastor. At the end of the day, the staff puts everything back in place to accommodate their most important clients for the week-area young people, who have access to the center's programs every Monday through Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. It's hard work, said Whitfield, but worth the effort.

"If we're going to reach this generation, if anyone is going to be uncomfortable, let it be the adults," said Whitfield.

That approach of putting young people first has paid off in many ways. Over the years, the center has grown from serving 45 young people on a regular basis to more than 1,000. Just recently, Whitfield said a partnership with Huntington University paid off for six participants in YFC's Horizon Leadership program. Six of Primetime's program participants received full, five-year scholarships worth $100,000 each to go to Huntington University.

"We're seeing some great successes," said Whitfield. "It's great for us to see kids going to college."

Whitfield is quick to point out that Primetime and Youth For Christ aren't the only entities in the community working hard to provide positive opportunities for young people.

"I think there are so many great programs in this community. There's a lot out there," he said, citing groups like the Euell Wilson Center, the Urban League and others.

But, he said, those resources often are underutilized are underappreciated.

"We don't educate people to what's available to them and we don't invest in the people who are working in the grassroots realm. We need to give back to the community in resources and time," he said.

Whitfield said Primetime's successes are the product of such relationships, from those with funders who gave donations to build and upgrade the facility-and who now are supporting the building of a new site at Paulding and Hessen Cassel roads to serve young people in the southeast quadrant of the city-to others with Huntington and Taylor universities that provided higher educational opportunities for Primetime students.

"It takes the community to minister to folks today," he said.

Proper service to help young people avoid the traps of today's chaotic life also requires a right mind and spirit.

"Kids want to feel that you are there for them and not there to pimp them," explained Whitfield. "We're here for the kids. It's not about whose name is on the marquee. It's about building relationships with kids. It's about meeting kids where they're at."

That means being honestly involved with their lives and not just staying behind the walls of a center, he said.

"They see Pastor Luther at church, in the gym or on the street," said Whitfield, adding that he's available to help in all those places.

"This generation is looking for relationships. That's why they're on the Internet, on cell phones? They're looking for someone to listen.

That someone needs to be adults, he said. And those adults need to see what can be and not always focus on the bad. He said people often are quick to get "concerned" when there's been a shooting or they focus all their attention on the few "knuckleheads" who are causing the vast majority of the problems. But, asked Whitfield, what about helping the majority of young people who are looking for a better way to live?

"As parents, we've got to begin to steer young people into the positive directions that are available to them," he said.

That takes vision.

"When I see kids, I don't look at where they are-I look at where they can be. They just need someone to invest in them," said Whitfield.

For more information about Primetime Community Center and its programs, all of which are free to young people, call (260) 744- 0914.

This is part of the April 30, 2008 online edition of Frost Illustrated.

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