Still Having Fun: Temple Hills Community Center grows children into adults

Back to Blog

Previous Article Next Article

Temple Hills Community Center has a unique Safe Summer program. While it is just as busy as any other site, Temple Hills has a distinguishable crowd present—while all are welcome at this center, many of its attendees are over the age of 18. “I don’t turn nobody away,” said Temple Hills Center Director Zina Mitchell, who said that on a typical weeknight, the center will host about 100 people, especially on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, when the planned activity is basketball. “It’s better for most people,” said 20-year-old college student Nate Goldsmith, as he waited on the sidelines for his team’s turn to play, “They don’t have a lot of time, so they come out and play at night.” Many of the young people that play basketball at Temple Hills during Safe Summer do so because they have more free time at night, and because they have been a part of the center since childhood. Karl Simpson, an 18-year-old recent graduate of Crossland High School, has been coming to the center since seventh grade, and plays on a team of friends, several of which he has known since middle school. “This is like my second home. I did everything here,” said Simpson. Glenn Bookhardt has also been frequenting the center for years and used to work as a Safe Summer staff member. At age 21, he continues to return to the program as a participant. “This age group is the typical age group for a lot of trouble,” said Bookhardt. “This gives us a chance to be competitive, but still have fun… and it’s better here than on the streets.” While come to play basketball, plenty of others come just to watch the games, and some younger family members enjoy other activities such as crafts while their older relatives play basketball. “It’s a great program,” said Bookhardt, “’cause we’re here to have fun.”