Evergreen Park Youth Department Celebrates 40 Years of Service

The Village of Evergreen Park honored a very special milestone last week, as the Youth Department celebrated its fortieth birthday.

The Youth Department is located in the Hamilton B. Maher Community Center at 3450 W. 97th Street and has been under the direction of Ms. Pyeisha Allen since 2018.

The original Youth Commission officially opened its doors on Saturday, April 17, 1982 in the former Community Center. The first Director, Barry Forte, stated at the time, “We hope this Center will be beneficial in delinquency prevention, improving youth involvement in the Village and participation in events”. This also included an “Employment Referral Service” which would screen prospective teens for possible jobs within the Village. This went hand-in-hand with the commitment to provide a decent Youth Center and to turn teens away from destructive activities like vandalism or drug use.

Today, the Youth Center/Game Room is a bustling, welcoming place for young people in grades five through twelve, featuring video games, ping-pong, a pool table, arcade games, as well as a comfortable seating area for kids to come in and unwind after school. In addition to the fun, Ms. Allen continues to provide programs for the youths to grow.

“We have a very active ‘Community Chores’ program,” she stated. “Kids who are interested in community service can sign up and makes themselves available for lawn mowing, snow shoveling or light housekeeping. This way, when we are contacted by a resident who is looking for help, we can match them up with one of our young people.”

Pyeisha has also organized Babysitting classes, literary events and has developed programs to put the young people in touch with nature. The Grand Opening of the 2022 Youth Garden Program will be held on Tuesday, May 24, from 4pm-5:30pm.

“We also organize field trips throughout the year,” Ms. Allen continued. “One of our highlights is a Haunted Hayride trip in October.” In addition, there are always fun events in the Youth Center itself, such as a recent ‘Green Tasting’ event in March, a movie night and an occasional Ice Cream Social.

“Open Gym Basketball and Volleyball are very popular programs that we offer,” she continued. “We try to find something that will appeal to everyone. We are very excited to partner with our Evergreen Park Historical Commission for a Historical Bike Tour of Evergreen Park on Saturday, July 30. We did this in the summer of 2019 and we had a wonderful turnout!”

All these programs tie into the Department’s mission statement: “The Evergreen Park Youth Commission was founded on the belief that youth, when given the opportunity, will make responsible choices and valuable contributions to the community. Our goal is to develop and implement a diverse program of activities that will offer these young people of Evergreen Park a wide range of positive developmental activities.”

The Youth Department is very active on social media. Their Facebook page is “EP Youth Department”, and an Instagram page, “epyouthdept”. “Parents and kids are more than welcome to drop into the Youth Center for information,” Ms. Allen offered. “We are here Monday through Friday from 3pm-6pm.” Their phone number is (708) 229-3377. Activities are listed on the village website as well, www.evergreenpark-ill.com.