10 minute read
Dawn Wolfson
from 08071 Pitman | Spring 2022
by nmg
Sowing Seeds and Providing Safe Spaces
BY JASMINE FERREL
Leadership, mentorship, financial independence, community service and individuality. These five values are at the core of Renaissance Village Youth Center. The youth-based community center strives to prepare the youth to be socially and emotionally evolved to be solid leaders in their community. Originally, based in Camden, NJ in 2017, the founder and director Dawn Wolfson was searching for a place to hold a full center. Although she couldn’t open up a full youth center in Camden, she was able to plant seeds of leadership within the youth of Camden by hosting and curating youth leadership seminars. When discussing Wolfson’s journey on the phone, she explains how she arrived at Pitman with the help of Pastor Randy Van Osten, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Pitman and Director of The Lighthouse Community Center.
“When I moved to Pitman, I met a Pastor of a church that wanted to rebrand itself as a community center and asked me to run the youth center portion of it and that’s how we found our home. I’m very thankful for Pastor Randy and the Lighthouse.”
When asked her what inspired her to start a youth center, I’m pretty confident she smiled through the phone as she replied with fervor;
“Well, I’m a middle school teacher, exclusively 8th grade, like that’s my jam right there and I exclusively teach black and brown babies which are different from what we have in Pitman. But after the election in 2016, it just felt like it was now or never to do what I could to help kids outside of the classroom. I wanted to take the classroom setting and make it more fun, still educational and make it a safe place to be.”
There are two levels of Dungeons and Dragons nights led by community members (that have been cleared via background checks). There is also a Lego masters club that follows similar rules to the television show, where the kids are timed to complete/build an allotted Lego challenge. The Renaissance Village Youth Center is also doing its own Lego League. “We’re doing youth engineering and coding for Lego robots and we get to compete for that,” Wolfson mentions.
Wolfson’s mission to bring the youth of Pitman together while educating them does come at a cost. Just one season of Lego League costs thousands of dollars to run. With fundraising, grants and donations from the parents, Renaissance Village please see WOLFSON, page 9
Youth Center can provide kids the opportunity to enjoy Lego Leagues, Rainbow Rooms and Dungeons and Dragons nights. “As a teacher who’s been leading for a decade in the classroom, it’s nice to see my young adults come in and they’re in their early twenties and be able to flex their mind muscles by inventing programs and making curriculums for programs. And then, teach their youth how to do the same things and pass it on. So, I love watching each level pass the knowledge. Everybody feels as though they can work together to expand and do more for the community and that’s all through teamwork.”
The biggest challenge Renaissance Village had to face was making a name for itself and standing out from already established programs through the school district.
“Having found South Jersey Robotics and the first Lego league that was everything for us because it’s the one thing that the district didn’t have and that the kids wanted.”
A safe space for the LGBTQIA+ young adults called The Rainbow Room is also available. Wolfson mentions how the Rainbow Room is the most popular program they have.
“Sometimes, we have those young people that stay until after hours, you know, just hanging out and having a safe place to just be…I believe in having a safe space for all
communities but especially for the youth as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I grew up in the 90s you know and growing up, I don’t think people were nice to people for having differences. And to see how the kids are now, the kids born after the early 2000s, they are so much more loving to each other and I wanna promote that and make room for that. “ Wolfson aims to push the educational aspect of her organization into business ownership “The idea is to open an employment center under the guise of a restaurant so that we can teach everyone how to run a small business by doing it through a restaurant. Hopefully, in the future, if a youth member wanted to open a restaurant that’s affiliated with Renaissance Village, they’d WOLFSON continued from page 8 be trained and ready to teach their own the same thing and to keep the program going.” You can check out their Facebook page, Renaissance Village (@RenVillage) to keep up to date with their events. Remember those youth leadership seminars? Well, some of those youth leaders will be camp counselors for Renaissance Village’s summer camp in July this year. ■
communities but especially for the youth as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I grew up in the 90s you know and growing up, I don’t think people were nice to people for having differences. And to see how the kids are now, the kids born after the early 2000s, they are so much more loving to each other and I wanna promote that and make room taurant. Hopefully, in the future, if a youth
Photos by Jamie Giambrone Founder and Director Dawn GoldenWolfson of Renaissance Youth Village Center
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Pitman’s biannual Craft Show, held in May and September along Broadway, hosts hundreds of vendors and attracts thousands of visitors each year. The club sells herbs and vegetable seedlings at the spring show and sells flower bulbs and mini pumpkins in the fall. In addition, the annual calendar, featuring nature-related photos taken throughout Pitman, is distributed throughout the county and sells out every year.
“We’re not just a run-of-the-mill gardening club,” says Groff. “We plant and maintain many of the public gardens throughout the town, determine the best species of plants and flowers that will thrive in the area and attract butterflies and bees, and make the community attractive to residents and visitors alike.”
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GARDEN continued from page 10 fronts and restaurants along Broadway are just one example of the club’s efforts. Members can be seen walking up and down the strip pulling a self-designed wagon with a shower head sprayer that allows them to water the flowers in the baskets on a regular basis. They’re also responsible for cleaning up the dead leaves and debris left behind from the fall in the flower beds and among the rose bushes in front of the Library, and taking care of the decorative plantings around the Veteran’s Memorial.
The club’s Biennial Garden Tour, held in June, allows visitors to walk around town and view residents’ backyard gardens, as well as gardens outside of churches or in community centers. Participants have an opportunity to see a variety of different plants, flowers and decorations, and discover new ideas for their own gardens.
In addition, the club participates in the annual Independence Day Parade, one of the biggest parades in the South Jersey area. “That’s always a fun event for our volunteers, and we’ve won a prize every year we’ve designed a float,” says Groff.
Right now, the club’s biggest challenge is attracting new members.
“Many of our members are older people and retirees,” says Groff. “A lot of the younger people in town are too busy with work and school to volunteer. We’re always looking for new members at the annual volunteer fair and we encourage anyone interested in helping out to reach out to us at any time.”
Michael Razze, Mayor of Pitman Borough, calls the Garden Club an asset to the community. “They’re a very dedicated group of volunteers who are always there to make sure Pitman looks its best. We love seeing the results of their dedication and hard work blossom year after year.” ■
Photos by Jamie Giambrone Pitman Garden Club’s Vice President Guy Groff attends to the garden at the veterans memorial in Pitman. 08071
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