Nicolle Marroquin-Leon (left) and Kyra Haas, both 19, provided input to help plan the Youth HUB in Eugene.
Nicolle Marroquin-Leon and Kyra Haas, both 19, provided input to help plan the Youth HUB in Eugene. The new facility offers a place for youth to gather for fun activities and learn about resources to help them. Credit: Ben Botkin / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

QuickTake:

The Youth HUB downtown will serve those 14 to 24 years old. They can play games, do crafts, access counseling and if necessary be directed to other services such as mental health care or shelters. 

The Youth HUB is officially opening at 3 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, offering young people in Eugene a one-stop navigation point for a plethora of services and activities. 

Some youth may want a place to hang out, play board games or do crafts. Others may be looking for career guidance or planning for college. Still others may be having a crisis. The hub is designed to meet all those needs and more — connecting youths to other organizations or resources such as shelters, mental health services and educational opportunities.

The hub’s goal is to make connections — not provide every single service a youth may need.

“An important part of what we’re able to do is to help connect young people with the resources,” said Jesse Nelson, executive director of Connected Lane County, a nonprofit that works with underserved youth.

The center is at 44 W. Seventh Ave. in downtown Eugene. It is next door to Connected Lane County, one of three nonprofit organizations that worked together to create the space. The other two are Ophelia’s Place and A Family for Every Child. 

The center is already springing into life. At an open house and ribbon-cutting event Saturday, Sept. 26, children and youths made bracelets at a crafts table. Games of checkers and Scrabble were on a shelf. 

Computers line a wall. Tucked in another corner, shelves are stocked with Ramen noodles and food cans.

In planning the hub, the organizations gathered ideas from young people. Two who gave input are Nicolle Marroquin-Leon and Kyra Haas, both 19.

“I think that youth, especially today, need more of a community-oriented space where they can just be themselves and have the space to get resources and hang out and be youth,” Haas said. “And I think that this is going to do a really good job of giving youth the space.”

Marroquin-Leon said the hub’s inviting atmosphere will encourage youth to come in and have fun.

“My personal favorite part was the crafting table, where you can paint, you can make buttons, you can just really do whatever you want,” she said. “As a crafty person, I think that that is such a great way to occupy your time and to keep your creativity.”

The three organizations will donate staff to help at the hub, too. 

Ophelia’s Place, for example, will have a team of four — two mental health clinicians and two others — every Thursday.

“We’ve got folks who are trained and able to listen and support,” said Laura Sanchez, executive director of Ophelia’s Place. 

In some cases, a staffer may listen and help a youth navigate questions. Other times, they may refer them to other services. 

Sanchez said the hub will help put a lot of resources and connections all under one roof. 

“I think that this model of collaboration is exactly what the community needs,” Sanchez said.

The hub will be open from 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For more information, visit connectedlane.org/youthhub.

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.