Programs and Services: Prevention

The Basement Teen Center

The Basement Teen Center, located in the basement of Montpelier's City Hall, is a substance-free, adult-supervised space for teens to gather, attend workshops, learn leadership skills, and have fun. During the school year the Basement is open from 3-6 pm Monday through Friday, and from 7-11 pm on Friday. During the summer and school vacations, the Basement is open from 1-4 pm Monday through Thursday, and 3-6 pm and 7-11 pm on Friday.

The Basement is staffed daily by at least two experienced and trained adult workers. Young people play an active role in creating and caring for the teen center space, setting rules, resolving conflicts, and planning and operating programs. The teen center currently employs a teen as part-time Teen Coordinator, who runs an active Teen Council that helps adult staff plan programming and make decisions about center operations.

Click here for the current calendar of events and programs: December 2006

Calendar Archive:

• January 2006
• February 2006
• March 2006
• April 2006
• May 2006
• June 2006
• July 2006
• August 2006
• September 2006

In the past program year (July 1, 2003 - June 30, 2004) --

• 335 individual teens from the area participated in Basement activities. 188 of the teens who participated (56%) were Montpelier residents.
• 67 special activities and events were sponsored by the Basement. Examples of activities and events include: free teen dinners; art projects; hiking trips; field trips; music jams; movie nights; overnight lock-ins; tobacco prevention programs; ski trips; community service projects; dances; coffee houses; pool tournaments... and much more!
• 51 community volunteers donated their time to chaperone special events and drop-in time.
• 45 individual teens participated in the Teen Advisory Council that provides peer leadership at the Basement and guides programming.
• Daily participation at drop-in time ranged from 10 to 48 teens.
• Teens made a total of 4,040 drop-in visits to the Basement.

The Basement Teen Center is currently supported by funding from the City of Montpelier, other area towns, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the Vermont Coalition of Teen Centers, the Trees for Teens Fundraiser, resources from the VT Food Bank, AmeriCorps volunteers, and donations from individuals and businesses. The Basement has also received support from the Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation, the Vermont Department of Health, National Life of Vermont, and others.

To learn more about the Basement’s programs and to get involved, call George Karpoff at 229-9151 or gkarpoff@youthservicebureau.info. George and other Basement staff can be reached at the Basement at 223-3877. You can also stop by the Basement to say hello and get a schedule of activities!