A new South Philly teen center has a music studio, spaces for gaming and cosmetology, and more

When Jewel Felder-James was a teenager, she was a frequent runaway. Felder-James grew up in what she characterized as a dysfunctional family, and was eventually removed from her home when she was 11 years old. She moved through several homes within the DHS system before landing at the now-defunct Sleighton Farm School in Glen Mills, Delaware County.

“I just gave up. I didn’t care. I really didn’t care what went on [or] what happened,” she said about arriving at what was then a school for “delinquent youth.”

But things started to change once Felder-James discovered the programming outside of schoolwork. First Sleighton’s music program caught her attention, then auto-mechanic classes and cooking instruction.

“It allowed me to get more excited about my life, more excited about what I’m capable of doing. And that was my inspiration — to one day bring that same thing back to Philadelphia,” she said.

“I never forgot what it was like to be a teen.”

Now, decades later, Felder-James has made good on her dreams for Philly teens like her. She is the teen director at Caring People Alliance, a Boys and Girls Club member organization, which, after years of fundraising and community involvement, opened a new teen center Jan. 31 at its South Philadelphia location.

“We provide a space where they [can] use their voice to talk about things that are related to them.”

The space of more than 3,000 square feet is at 2433 S. 15th St. It will provide free after-school programming for teens until 8 p.m. every day, and was designed with the input of CPA teenagers to include a music studio, gaming and computer spaces, as well as other multipurpose areas for art, cosmetology and other activities.

“One of the issues teens have is people are always talking down to them. We provide a space where they [can] use their voice to talk about things that are related to them. We have creative spaces that are designed with teen input,” said Branon Gilmore, senior director of programs and service delivery for Caring People Alliance.

“We are exposing them to things and showing them that there’s a future out there.”

Before any work began on the South Philly teen center, Felder-James was building a model in North Philly. When she first started working at Caring People Alliance’s teen program at R.W. Brown Boys and Girls Club several years ago, the teen program was nearly nonexistent; teens mostly sat around with nothing to do besides watch TV, and there was no space specifically for them.

Felder-James wanted to change that. She went to the kids first, and asked them how they would like for the program to function, and what sorts of things they were interested in doing there.

Eventually, Felder-James and other staff built a music studio with the kids and made sure they were getting fed. They did art projects, T-shirt design and cosmetology lessons, all coming from the teens’ suggestions.

» READ MORE: Where is a Philadelphia teenager supposed to hang out?

“That fable of ‘teens don’t want to do nothing’ is so wrong,” Felder-James said.

Alphonso Cobbs, now 19, was one of the North Philly teens who regularly came to R.W. Brown when Felder-James began making changes. At first, he was drawn to the center for its basketball courts. But then he started using the music studio.

“I mainly use music to talk about problems, to let go of my feelings. So I use music as therapy,” he said. R.W. Brown became his safe, “third space” outside of home and school. Before, he used to spend time at the park with his friends because being anywhere else felt too dangerous. But that felt aimless and unproductive.

“I’m too old to be on swings,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shakeem Smith, 19, first showed up at R.W. Brown for a different reason: He heard there would be free Taco Bell one day. But he kept coming back because of how close the teenagers and adult leaders became. The program helped him open up and conquer some of his social anxiety.

“Miss Jewel made it like a family environment. All of us became like little brothers and sisters,” he said. When Caring People Alliance’s staff asked for the teens’ input on how to change the space, it was the first time Smith thought that adults valued his and other teens’ opinions.

“We was vocal about having more stuff in there. Because when we started, we didn’t really have nothing,” Smith said.

Cobbs said of the attention paid to the teens’ input: “There aren’t a lot of adults really doing that nowadays.”

Felder-James’ model worked, and Caring People Alliance aimed to implement similar strategies at all of its teen programs. But building a space just for teenagers was still their ultimate goal.

Caring People Alliance’s South Philly location had a basement with potential, but it needed funding to become a refuge for teens. A few years ago, CPA began applying for state grant funding so it could build and redesign the basement, as well as pay staff to work at the center until 8 p.m. every day on programming for teens that would now extend beyond just age 13.

The application process required that Caring People Alliance demonstrate that community members supported the project, and could attest that a teen center was needed in the neighborhood.

Terri Jack was one of the people who helped. Jack, who has lived in South Philly with her family for more than 20 years, hasn’t personally benefited from the programming — acceptance to its day-care program was too competitive when her children were young, and her kids were too old for the South Philly teen program when it began. But she saw how valuable the organization’s work has been to the neighborhood over the years.

» READ MORE: Philly teenagers would like safe, accessible, and interesting places to hang out. They can’t find any.

“Most of the public schools are not able to provide after-school programming. The libraries are strapped for cash,” she said. “It became really obvious, really fast, that not having a place for my 10-year-old fifth grader to go once they navigated getting from school onto the subway ... it’s been a glaring challenge.”

Jack and other parents in the neighborhood wrote letters on behalf of Caring People Alliance for the grant application, working to spread the word about its campaign. Some of the other parents had young children and teens still in the CPA programs, while others were like her: They knew their children might not benefit personally from the teen center, but that it was still a worthy investment for the city’s youth and the neighborhood.

With the support of many local community organizations, as well, the grant for $400,000 was approved, and the design was provided pro bono by Meyer Design, which also designed The Inquirer’s headquarters. Caring People Alliance is still raising money for certain amenities and equipment, such as gaming computers and art supplies, but it did receive a substantial gift at its opening event: City Council President Kenyatta Johnson pledged to donate $5,000.

Jack was thrilled that letters from community members had been a success. Not just because it meant that the center was getting built, but also because she saw her children understanding the point of all of their work.

“I want [my kids] to have all the opportunities that money buys you in the suburbs, too,” she said. “[They] were excited to hear that it worked. .... So for me it was twofold in that it’s great for the community to get that kind of resources and development focused on teens, but also to see my kids get it that they’re part of the village now, too.”