There are few places like the drop-in. A spacious facility that has activities ranging from video games to art, to pool tables, to a well-maintained skatepark outside, where young people can come and connect with adults who care about who they are, and volunteer their time to mentor them. C, who has been regularly attending Thursday drop-ins, said, “Every time I show up, the people there always participate in games, and talk to [the kids who are] hanging out there.” But it’s more than just hanging out for K, who says that the difference the drop-in has made in her life is that she has met people she can talk to.
Over the last year, meeting in person to talk has been a luxury for many people, but it’s something we never take for granted at the drop-in. There is something rich and meaningful about speaking with someone face to face, especially when we have the chance to share the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ, and show in love what that Gospel means.
Joyce, who has volunteered with the Drop-in since it opened 17 years ago, feels strongly about what an intentional conversation means to the young people who walk through the doors. Without a place like this, many young people would miss out on having someone with whom they could speak confidentially, and feel a bit of relief. Joyce sees this place as one piece of a larger puzzle in making Stonewall a better place, where “everyone does a little bit.”
And when she was asked why she keeps coming back, she had this to say: “I love kids. It just warms your heart. You come home and you feel good, or you feel sad because one of the youth is suffering. I hope I can encourage them, or make a difference and plant the seed that God is there and loves you, so that they remember it, even if it’s not right now. I feel so much joy, and am thankful to Jesus.”
It is the support of people like Joyce, and all the dozens of volunteers we’ve had over the years, and the support of Town and RM Councils, and the support of businesses and individuals that makes a place like this possible, that gives the much-needed support to the young people in this community.
