She grew up and lives in
Lakewood, has proven organizational skills and she
delights in and has faith in our town’s teenagers. Michelle
Killin-Keith has all the prerequisites, so now the real
work begins!
Michelle was recently hired as
the first Program Coordinator of The Chat Room (TCR),
Lakewood’s teen drop-in center that is open Friday and
Saturday nights. The
list of things that should and could be done for the
groundbreaking TCR has been getting longer, just waiting
for someone to be dedicated to them. The Lakewood
Interfaith Youth Initiative, TCR’s founding sponsor,
raised enough funds to create the new part-time slot,
TCR’s first paid staff position.
 “I’m very honored to have been chosen
for this challenging position,” says Michelle. “I’ve lived
in Lakewood forever, and my father and I are both
graduates of Lakewood High. As we all know The
Chat Room has filled a void in this community. It
has brought teens into a warm and stable environment and
brought volunteers together to work and befriend each
other. I
really think we have something special here.”
Michelle’s first priorities
include getting the word out to Lakewood teens about TCR
and its fun weekend activities. She’s also
working on recruiting and scheduling adult volunteers to be trained to
chaperone at the center. Lately, she’s
been distributing calendars around town (click here to view the latest TCR
calendar). She's developing  current and new activities for 2003 that
include special nights for magic, open microphone, art,
pets, and karaoke.
Twister – yes, the same game from the 1960s –
is also in the works for future weekends, because of popular demand,
explained Michelle.
“One Friday, about eight or so guys were
playing checkers, and when they were done they looked
for something else to play and discovered we had
Twister. Well
these guys played Twister the rest of the night.
They were so funny! One of the young men said to
me ‘I was only here one other time, this is so great I have to come back.’
Another guy said, "I’ve never been here before. This is fun, I'm
coming back!’”
Before the next weekend, a second Twister
mat was added to the game selections that also include a Foosball table, chess
sets, Scategories and Scrabble.
But for all the fun-n-games, there is the work of
keeping the TCR mission on solid ground.
”I’m going to a lot of
places within our community, networking with many people
and making alliances with other teen groups,” says
Michelle, so that TCR can support its ongoing program
and plan for a future that includes a community meal
hosted by teens, and an after-school tutoring program to
help them with homework.
“Raising community awareness is very important.”
TCR’s goal is to balance its
operational needs with plans for the future. So in the spirit
of first things first, Michelle is more than happy to
share TCR’s wish list of immediate needs:
- Volunteers (always needed, especially
adults)
- Pool table
- Air hockey table
- Percolator or something to keep
hot water in
- Kitchen floor installed (we have
all the supplies)
- TV-VCR cart
- Polaroid camera
- Coat rack
- Fax machine
- A place to be our copy center or $$
donated exclusively for that purpose
“There are so many wonderful and creative ideas on our TCR team of
volunteers, teens and trustees. I am very excited
and energized to be joining this team of wonderful
individuals. Our challenge is to focus on one or two
things that we can get done.
Then we can tackle another, then another!” said
the former Calfee Halter & Griswold law firm
accounting staffer who coordinated with up to 300
attorneys. Michelle’s
practical view may also come from the fact that she’s
a wife, and mother to two children, ages one and six.
When asked if any inspiring thought
applies to her new job of helping support Lakewood’s
teens, Michelle responded with words written by the
Apostle Paul to Timothy:
“Don’t let anyone think less of you because
you are young.”
“Is there a perfect job?” asked
Lakewood Buzz. Michelle said TCR and its teens fit her definition. “For me, the perfect job has
two things. It
has administrative duties and provides an opportunity for helping
others. That's this!”
But Michelle doesn’t stop there… “I want other
people to jump on the The Chat Room wagon now, because
we’re bringing new life and new activities to the
lives of really great kids in Lakewood!”
To donate needed items or
to learn about volunteering, leave a message
for Michelle by calling TCR at (216) 226-8223 or email
her by clicking here.
Some really great kids and neighbors have high hopes for
The Chat Room's future... and they'd love to see you
some Friday or Saturday night between 6:30 and 10:30!
|
