It's a brand new effort to keep kids safe while mixing in fun and learning outside of the school day: St. Louis' Office of Violence Prevention teamed up with the YMCA to offer a “Mobile Y" you'll now see all over the city.
On a cool, rainy night, what child wouldn't want a fun escape? You can call it an indoor playground of sorts with video games, virtual basketball and bowling. Mixed in with the excitement are tools to help young people exercise their brains.
"Science, technology, engineering, math… we can do robotics with the kids. The kids get to learn different coding on our iPads… we have mobile DJ units so our kids get to learn how to DJ,” said Courtney Brame with the Gateway Region YMCA.
The Mobile Y is brand new to St. Louis. "It's only one other in Texas. And we’re the only one with the second one,” Brame added.
The city invested more than $235,000 in ARPA funds to roll it out to communities across St. Louis for the next couple of years.
“For the youth that sometimes don’t get the opportunity to go to a rec center, or get to go to the YMCA, this is a meaningful way to bring those activities to them and let them be kids,” said Bretton DeLaria with the Office of Violence Prevention.
Wednesday night, the Mobile Y traveled to Lafayette Square, partnering with Lafayette Preparatory Academy's family STEAM Night. The goal is to bring it to different locations several times a week.
"We’re really about reaching out to the kids who aren’t members, who may not be able to afford a membership or may not be able to get to a building easily,” Brame said.
City leaders believe bringing a safe outlet directly to neighborhoods can create inspiration.
"Think about the youth in the city that don’t always get the opportunity just to be youth, don’t have safe space just to be kids,” DeLaria said.
"It means opportunity. It means seeing things that in maybe some opportunities, kids have never seen before,” Brame added.
And if seeing it is believing it, perhaps a fun escape can be the pathway to somehow discovering purpose.
"It builds life skills. It builds character in these kids,” Brame said.
The Mobile Y will make its next stop to St. Mary's High School in Dutchtown Saturday afternoon.
You can also request it show up to a community event you care about. To learn more, click here.