In 2014, myself, a handful of youth, and Tasha all sat down at a table.

and we started discussing what was lacking in Klamath Falls.

The number one thing that came up was a drop-in center for teens to go.

That was safe, that was inclusive, that no teen would ever feel any sort of bullying or feel left out where they felt they had a voice and they felt like they could gain those leadership skills that they were lacking.

And from that day, my life changed forever.

I got more involved.

I was a happier person.

I excelled in school and in fact, I graduated a year early.

Whereas before, I was addicted to drugs.

I was partying on the weekends and I just needed that one person that could give me that listening ear.

And that's why I'm here.

That is that is my goal with this job is to be that listening ear, that buffer for these kids to just come in and say, hey, I'm having a bad day.

And for me to be that listening ear because that can change their life forever.

I feel like Micah's more understanding because she's been through something similar to me.

So it's just more helpful.

What I like about the people at work here is, they are very kind.

They do good tutoring.

They'll play games with you.

And they're just very funny and nice overall.

It has raised my grades and overall, it's also brought my mental health and mood up some, I will say.

We offer a leadership opportunities for the teens every Thursday night.

They can help plan events as well as go out into the community and speak with community members.

We also have just a cool hangout space that has a pool table, shuffle board.

We have virtual reality.

We have Nintendo Switches and Xboxes.

We also give mental health support in a non clinical setting.

And so what that means is we are here and we are that first person to listen to these teens if there's an issue.

Our main goal down here is to give the youth that feel like they don't have a voice and they can't speak up that voice.