It’s a little before 5 p.m. at the Brown County YMCA, but it’s not closing time for the building’s newest tenant.
In one room, musician Nathan Dillon and two teenage boys strum their guitars.
In another room sits Traci Lewis, the new program director for Brown County Enrichment for Teens Association Inc. (BETA), updating the sign-in sheet on her computer. Near her is a large television with a group of teen boys playing a video game.
Local artist and BETA board Vice President MK Watkins is painting a woodland scene in that same room with other teens. The piece will be in the silent auction on March 7, part of BETA’s main annual fundraiser.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]The Y is the BETA teen program’s new home. After moving out of an expensive downtown shop space, the program now has a space of its own, and teens can branch out into other Y areas and activities, too, even the pool and weight room.
Fourteen-year-old Nick Jewell explains what’s in the small pots near the windows of the busy BETA room. Tomato plants, pepper plants and herbs will begin to grow this winter with the goal to plant them outside when the weather warms. Gardening is something Jewell began to get interested in last year, and now he gets to continue learning, because starting seeds is one of Lewis’ first projects with BETA kids.
BETA is where Jewell comes to hang out with his friends more than he gets to during the school day. “Here you can talk and bond. BETA is like a family,” Jewell said.
“It doesn’t matter who you are; you are always respected here no matter what.”
Lewis started as the program director this month — the first paid director in BETA’s history.
She grew up in LaPorte near the Lake Michigan dunes. “I’m used to a lot of water. I have a boat, now I need to find Lake Monroe,” she said.
Lewis’ aunt and uncle have lived in Brown County for 40 years. Her parents owned property in the Cordry-Sweetwater area, so she spent many summers here. She also bakes bread for the Hobnob Corner restaurant part-time.
“I’m familiar with the area, but now it’s time to really get familiar with it again,” she said.
Recently, Lewis moved to a cabin in Brown County from a farm in Wayne County. She heard about BETA looking for a paid program director through a friend who had recently moved to the area.
Before coming to work for BETA, Lewis was the executive director of Cope Environmental Center in Centerville. Before that, she was the education and outreach director and events coordinator, and she coordinated 200 adult and student volunteers.
Her resume includes a variety of experiences, from being the landscaping and naturalist leader for Richmond Parks and Recreation to working as a production assistant and in security for Walt Disney Company in Florida.
Through those jobs and others, she has gained experience in developing and implementing programming, doing public relations, fundraising, budgets and managing personnel.
‘Kids need that’
BETA is open to junior high and high school-aged students, including those who are home-schooled. The free club meets from 3 to 6:30 p.m. only on Tuesdays.
“Hopefully it will just keep growing. The kids need that,” Lewis said.
“I would love for it to be every day, five days a week. I know the kids look forward to Tuesdays. They should look forward to every day after school.”
BETA will carry into the summer, too, with the goal being to have a field trips every Tuesday during break.
The program, founded around 2011, has always run on donations, grants and volunteers. Early on, it was open two weekday evenings, but had to scale back.
BETA also has a small endowment with the Brown County Community Foundation, but there are limits on how much it can withdraw each year.
“To me, it feels really obvious, but if you’re doing a program, the most important thing is the program director. It’s the core. The people are the core. The kids and the staff are the core,” BETA treasurer Annie Hawk said about hiring Lewis.
Hawk has been the treasurer for BETA since last summer. She had been working with the former After School Arts Committee, which was ultimately absorbed by BETA.
The community foundation gave BETA a grant to offer a music program. Dillon, from Everybody Rocks, teaches free guitar lessons for an hour on Tuesdays — 12 weeks in the summer and 12 weeks in the fall.
Local musician Jeff Foster will soon begin teaching music lessons at Brown County Junior High School through BETA.
BETA is currently looking for a volunteer to teach drumming to the teens.
Expanding program offerings is one of Lewis’ goals, and being at the Y has already helped with that. BETA kids get pool days on the last Tuesday of the month and the option to use the rock climbing wall or the weight lifting room.
“If the kids are interested in it, then we’ll schedule and she’ll (Y Executive Director Kim Robinson) have somebody there, a trainer,” Lewis said.
“As long as they are signed off with me through BETA, it’s free. We have an application she (Robinson) did just for us.”
There are also gardens behind the Y that Lewis hopes she and the BETA teens can use.
To carry forward the vision to expand programming, BETA needs more volunteers.
“I want the kids to be able to tell me what they want to do and learn. I’m not going to force it to them, but I want to bring all of the things to the table and just say, ‘Hey, we have an opportunity to do this, this and this. Do you want to learn it?’” Lewis said.
“Then I find the people who can tie the bow around and be the package deal to come in and help.”
“My dream is to be the best teen center in Indiana,” Hawk said.
Safe place
On Feb. 25, parents and teens are invited to a BETA open house at the YMCA from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. to learn more about the program. Pizza will be served.
“I think it’s great,” 15-year-old Luke Besosa says of BETA’s new home. Besosa is homeschooled. He comes to BETA to make friends and to share the Gospel with his peers.
He and 13-year-old Charlie Webb are two of the teens who helped Watkins with the painting that will be auctioned next month. Watkins comes to BETA once a month to teach teens.
Webb has been coming to BETA for about a year now with two of his brothers. “It’s a place to come have fun after school, and sometimes do homework,” Webb said.
Connie Casey has been volunteering with BETA for five years, and she loves it. “I need to be around the children. They nurture you,” she said.
In addition to more volunteers, BETA is also looking for “working board members,” because they can’t afford to pay Lewis enough for all the work that needs to go into the program.
Moving to the YMCA did save BETA money. BETA had been paying $1,400 in rent and utilities a month for its one day of programming downtown. Now, the group pays the Y a small monthly contribution for using the space.
“We just flipped it, and now we want to put our money into programming,” Hawk said. “It frees us up to do so many more creative things.”
Around 15 or so teens attend BETA each week, but the hope is that number will soon increase. Some drive to the Y, while others walk. They had to sign a paper promising to use the Salt Creek Trail to get to the Y instead of crossing State Road 46 from their school campus.
For three months, BETA was without a building, so the group was meeting at Common Grounds coffee shop downtown. Hawk said it will take time to increase the number of teens who were coming before they moved the last time.
An organization like BETA is important to a community’s health, Hawk explained.
“It’s an inoculation against drug abuse, loneliness and all kinds of issues,” she said.
“It’s also an opportunity for older people to give back to the community. I think communities are healthy in the degree that people are related to each other.”
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Lend a hand
Anyone interested in volunteering or learning more about BETA should email Program Director Traci Lewis at [email protected].
Volunteers are needed who can teach activities like art, gardening, sewing, cooking and more. BETA also needs a fundraising volunteer, a social media volunteer and a volunteer who is willing to help the writing of thank-you notes.
The BETA board is also looking for new members. Anyone interested in serving on the board can email Hawk at [email protected].
Support the fundraiser
One way the community can help is by attending the Brown County Youth Music Showcase, BETA’s annual fundraiser, on Saturday, March 7 at the Brown County Playhouse.
Doors open and a silent auction starts at 6:30 p.m. Music will begin at 7:30 p.m. The event is hosted by Kara Barnard and her music students.
BETA is also looking for items to include in the silent auction. Those items can be dropped off at Farmers Insurance Christina McGinley Agency, 145 S. Jefferson St., during office hours Monday through Friday. Anyone with questions can call McGinley at 812-988-6399.
Monetary donations can also be sent to BETA throughout the year at P.O. Box 1194, Nashville, IN 47448.
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