“Find a need and meet it.” That’s advice that Jeff Focht and the congregation at Turning Point Church have been following, as they have worked for months to create the Jordan Crouch Memorial Youth Center.
The center, which is located at Turning Point Church, will celebrate
its grand opening on Saturday, June 2 beginning at 1 p.m. Focht and
all the volunteers who have worked on the building would like to see
the community stop by and see what they have accomplished.
“It’s been remarkable really,” said Focht, as he talked about the
outpouring of support they have received from the church as well as
the community.
Focht took pledges from the church and other visitors, and from
there the effort just grew. More than $12,000 in donations have been
made so far, not including things like the furniture which was
donated by Toyota of Somerset for the sitting area near the front of
the building or the food and drinks that have been provided for the
grand opening.
A youth center has been something that Turning Point Church has
considered for a number of years. They leased the large building,
located between Lee’s Famous Recipe and the ASPIRE Center, in 2010,
and Focht noted that there was enough space for a youth center.
“We knew that one day we wanted to do this, but when Jordan died we
said we were going to do this,” said Focht.
Jordan was a friend to his children and visited the Focht home on
May 24, 2012. Jordan died in a tragic motorcycle accident on May 27,
2012—something that Focht said forever changed the way he saw things.
In the days that followed, Focht, like others, asked the question
“why.” He also thought that if there had been something for the youth
of Monticello to do, maybe this tragedy would not have happened.
“This thought has never left me from that day forward. I believe it
was God that brought this thought to me especially now that I see the
results of this,” said Focht.
After Jordan died, his mother, Daphne, began to attend Turning Point
Church.
“I watched as God ministered to her,” said Focht. “She had to get
healed up before we could see this happen. Honestly, I think this is
part of her healing process. She has been very involved with this
project.”
He explained, “We just let the vision grow in our hearts. I
approached Jordan’s mom about calling it the Jordan Crouch Memorial
Youth Center. and told her to talk with her husband about it. They
thought it was a great idea and that is how we came up with the name.
It’s fitting because we, as a church, had realized the need, but we
didn’t get it into our hearts and get motivated until this happened.”
From there things have just fallen into place. There is a Youth
Board, consisting of Focht and four other members. And about 12 to 15
volunteers have helped with construction and painting to get the
facility ready to open.
At the entrance is a sitting or lounge area, where youth can gather
and talk or play board games. There is a concession area, where there
will be hot dogs, popcorn and drinks available to purchase. Use of
the center will be free but there will be a charge for concessions
once it is open.
At the end of the hall are two game rooms. A larger one includes
pool tables, foosball, and arcade games. All games are free. Across
the hall is a smaller game room geared more for younger children.
Focht said that they are looking at the possibility of issuing some
type of membership cards to youth, so that volunteers will know who
is using the facility. It will be open one night each week, on
Friday, at this point, with volunteers operating it.
“We are hoping to open more nights a week as more people get
involved,” said Focht. “We welcome other churches to be involved if
they would like to, maybe take a night and that way we could have the
center open nearly every night of the week for the kids.”
He said they have a vision that one day there will be a building
that will include a skating rink, a gymnasium, an arcade and a
bowling alley that would truly give the youth of this community a
place of their own.
“We have to start somewhere so this is where we start. We are
trusting that someday we can having something like that for the kids
in this town,” said Focht.
He encourages everyone to come out for the June 2 grand opening.
There will be free hot dogs, popcorn and drinks beginning at 1 p.m.
People can tour the center and see the activities that are available.
There will be inflatables set up outside and a dunking booth.
“We hope to have a big crowd so that everyone can see what we have
got here,” said Focht. “We want them to see that it is a safe place
for kids.”
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