Drueding Center

The Child That’s Got His Own
Drueding sponsors a variety of programs that
allow young people to be children again – to
laugh, to learn, to imagine and to feel a part of
the community. “We want to provide teens with
the necessary tools to face the real world and
all the issues and problems that come with it.
Our goal is to see these youths become
self-sufficient young adults,” says Heather
Stotter, Drueding’s Youth Coordinator.
Too often, poor or homeless children receive
second-class services and minimal opportunities
– or none at all. Many have had to change
schools multiple times. At Drueding Center/Project Rainbow, the aim is
to give these children access to the best of everything – in education,
personal development, health care,
cultural enrichment and stimulating
activities, says executive director
Anne Marie Collins.
The Drueding Teen Network
was created at the urging of program
graduates who were concerned
that their children would get left
behind after leaving Drueding.
Open to youths, ages 8-21, the
Teen Network offers practical
workshops on conflict
resolution, career
awareness and health, as
well as fun classes on
karate, art and drums. Or
teens can branch out by
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contributing drawings, poems and reviews of movies, books and music to
the Network newsletter.
The responsibility of “paying it forward” is introduced to the youths
who perform volunteer services at a number of area organizations. Bev’s
15-year-old daughter, Jeneen, is president of the Teen Network and
recently baked cookies that were sold to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims.
She and other members of the Teen Network helped Philadelphia Cares
paint public school classrooms, among other community service projects
over the year.
Jeneen says she’s gotten
the guidance she needs
from Drueding staff
members to pursue her
long-term goal of going to
college to be a pharmacist.
“I want to have a good life,
a good home, a good job I
like doing.” Asked what
she's learned from being
homeless, the 10th grader
replies: “If you’re determined
to have a better life,
you can have it.”
Jeneen’s favorite activity
at Drueding is helping out
at the annual Christmas
party for residents and
graduates. “I like seeing
everyone get back together
after their lives have been
situated.”