Lee’s Summit teen center helped shape these youths’ lives. Now it’s expanding to do more
When she first walked into the Pro Deo youth center in Lee’s Summit, Chawnta’le Bushnell said the staff wouldn’t leave her be, always urging her to speak up, and constantly wanting to know what she was doing.
Eventually, that constant push for engagement is what helped Bushnell, 20, break out of her shell.
Now, she works on a social media team for a youth advisory board, engaging with youth to help them access preventative resources, and speaks to the Lee’s Summit community about Pro Deo.
Since first opening in 2009, the Pro Deo youth center has worked to provide a space for youth to grow and feel accepted.
Now, the center has plans to expand their outreach to area youth, thanks to $1.7 million in new funding. On June 27, Pro Deo announced the funding from the Missouri Department of Economic Development Community Revitalization grant, plus funds from Lee’s Summit residents Bob and Jane Rutherford.
This funding will help fuel the centers’ plans to expand; first, in capacity with the opening of a new center with more space for students to come and participate in after-school activities, tutoring sessions, and counseling.
But the impact of the old center remains strong for student alumni who spent their early teen years at the youth center, who all said Pro Deo’s presence in the community is vital for youth.
A home away from home
Pro Deo is centered around trust.
While making the youth center a safe zone is a priority, they also want their students to grow in their relationships and connections with peers and staff.
“That’s part of that acceptance policy that makes them feel like they belong at Pro Deo,” Dr. Elaine Metcalf, executive director said.
Building a safe space for students, Metcalf said, is the job of the ambassadors and staff to work to help students find others who they can connect and feel comfortable with, along with planning activities to help further their growth.
Chawnta’le Bushnell and her twin sister Ashanti Bushnell, 20, came to the Pro Deo youth center at the age of 14, and continued throughout their teen years as active members.
Coming from a single parent home in Lee’s Summit, the sisters said before coming to the center they struggled to speak with and make connections with other youth, and that fact combined with their family struggles made the youth center a refuge.
Ashanti Bushnell said before coming to the center she dealt with high anxiety and struggled with opening up and expressing herself, but after years of involvement at the center, she was able to open up more. By working as a ambassador, she was able to connect and help other students, which she said helped her find her purpose at the center.
“It’s important for kids like me who started off not being very interactive because when you get into high school, all the kids can be overwhelming and you don’t know where to start off,” Bushnell said.
Pro Deo became a good space for Bushnell to engage and meet other kids, and have someplace comforting to go after school.
Chawnta’le Bushnell said similar to her sister, she was shy and struggled with communicating. She said her time at the youth center allowed her to grow in her ability to communicate, and to learn to be open-minded when getting to know others.
“If I hadn’t been able to find Pro Deo I think that my communication and outreach skills would not be as strong. Most of the activities we did involved us taking the initiative to ask questions and participate,” Bushnell said.
Making personal connections while working on those behavioral exercises with staff is another takeaway Bushnell said she gained from her time at the youth center.
In group circle conversations, she was able to learn and connect with others on a deeper level, and learned not to judge from the surface level.
The sisters said Pro Deo also became a safe space because of the sense of family and love they fostered. They said whenever someone talked, they always listened.
“Whenever I walked in the door it always reminded me that I was never alone, they have access to resources that could help us if we ever needed,” Busnell said.
‘It has to be about acceptance’
Pro Deo staff said that while creating a safe space for their youth is a main goal, being an inclusive space for all students to share their stories and struggles is another.
Making preventive services available to kids is one of those ways the youth center tries to show their support to their students.
Metcalf said the schools in the area give students access to mental health services, however, some students still have the struggle of accessing these resources, and that’s where Pro Deo comes in to help.
“We eliminate that barrier by going and picking them up at the schools and we take them home at the end of the night if they are needed,” Metcalf said.
They’re also looking to combine resources with Lee’s Summit CARES, which allows students access to preventative services and resources to assist both their physical and mental health.
Vanessa Hickman works for the Lee’s Summit CARES Youth Advisory Board, which provides prevention programs to target suicide, bullying and substance misuse and underage drinking. She says, this year, their main focus has been mental health.
Currently, Hickman’s program is working on how to combine services with Pro Deo to provide drop-in services for teens. This program would allow students who’ve made counseling appointments months ahead to have access to counseling in between those sessions.
“Our high schools do an awesome job of providing therapists on staff, but it’s so many youth they don’t have time, or even after school, where can they go to provide those services,”Hickman said.
Hickman wants the Lee’s Summit youth to become advocates for their own mental health by fighting for outlets like Pro Deo and Lee’s Summit CARES in their community.
“In our community, youth mental health is growing and some of that is COVID and some is I think our youth now are awesome with identifying things – and saying no,” Hickman said.
In 2017, the Star reported on two students in Lee Summit’s who committed suicide days apart of each other.
After the loss, Lee’s Summit CARES sponsored a community conversation about mental health focused on youth and teens. Hickman said they don’t want a repeat of that tragedy, and that having safe places for teens to go is vital.
Lowering the numbers of youth struggling with mental health issues and providing resources to youth in Lee’s Summit is a goal Metcalf and Hickman share, and hope to work towards achieving in their programs.
“There’s not a zip code that’s exempt from youth mental health issues, and so it’s on our communities to own that and to give generously of their time, talent and even their resources to make a place like Pro Deo,” Metcalf said.
However, it can be hard for teens to seek out resources to get help, Metcalf said, noting it’s a brave step to even just come in the door.
Another challenge for some Lee’s Summit youth is being a minority in a predominately white space. Hickman said she has shared some of those same struggles.
According to 2022 U.S Census Bureau numbers, the Lee’s Summit population totals over 101,000; of that, 8.6% is Black, 4.8% is Hispanic or Latino, and 2.1% is Asian. The other 82% of Lee’s Summit residents are white.
Jarquez Brinkley, 22 a former Pro Deo student, said in his opinion Pro Deo has provided more of a sufficient space for equal opportunity in Lee’s Summit for him and his peers than any other place in the city.
“There’s a lot of stuff you can get here that you will not be able to get in school or out anywhere else,” Brinkley said
Brinkley found Pro Deo at 17 by accident when picking up his younger brother, and decided to stay out of curiosity. He said he was already outgoing, but the youth center helped him grow up and step into leadership positions.
“It made me want to lead people and try to be a good role model for others – older or younger than me.”
Chawnta’le Bushnell said Lee’s Summit isn’t the most diverse place, noting that at her school there were a few other minority students, but not many. But when she came to Pro Deo, she found more teens like her to connect with.
“When I came here – it felt safe and comfortable to discuss other topics like race and whatnot, because I had other people like me, and those not sat and listened and were willing to educate themselves,” Bushnell said
Ashanti Bushnell shared the same sentiment and said the staff don’t judge when coming in, no matter your background.
After spending several years in the program at Pro Deo, Brinkley and the Bushnell sisters all said their biggest advice for those interested in coming to the center for the first time is to keep an open mind.
Ashanti Bushnell said while she was in the center she went through several twists and turns, but having a connection with a staff member helped her navigate those times.
“I know the first few times can be intimidating and can be scary – I’ve seen a lot of kids come in and they’re quiet as a mouse and over the course of time I see them open up. Even just a little bit it’s still progress,” Brinkley said.
With a new center soon on the way, Brinkley hopes to continue to speak to those interesting in the program, both youth and adults, about Pro Deo’s importance.
Chawnta’le Bushnell said coming into the center opens up opportunities for students to bond with each other in both large and small ways, and she credits the relationships she’s built and skills she’s gained to her time there.
The future of Pro Deo
Ashanti Bushnell said she’s looking forward to the expansion of Pro Deo, because she believes having more space will open up more opportunities for the youth in Lee’s Summit.
Metcalf shared her excitement, and said she’s glad the city is willing to fund programs like the youth center for local teens.
“We’re most excited about a bigger space, the capacity to serve more families – and be that go to place for even other communities, that’s our long range goal.”
According to a press release the city sent out June 27, the center is also looking to expand behavioral health counseling services for youth in the area. The youth center currently partners with ReDiscover Behavioral Health, which provides a mental health professional or counselor to come in as part of Pro Deo’s prevention programs for teens.
Chawnta’le Bushnell said many of the activities she participated incorporated some exercise to help build on conversational skills and relationships.
“Without those activities and those lessons built within them, I would be struggling a bit — having my voice heard in a healthy manner,” Bushnell said.
In addition to the behavioral services expanding, Hickman from Lee’s Summit CARES is looking forward to more collaborations in the near future with Pro Deo in the new center.
Currently, Lee’s Summit CARES has 25 students in their program, and Hickman said they would like to continue to grow the program and have students from Pro Deo also join. She believes the collaboration with Pro Deo will bring together teens who would have never thought to come together to help support one another.
“I just want our students to get together and see different lifestyles and the way people think – so let’s step outside our circles and look at how other people are living or figuring out things,”Hickman said.
Brinkley said the expansion of Pro Deo in the community is great because of the importance of the center’s message and mission — preparing youth for their future and giving them hope.
“Hopefully, ideally, I would want it to be more so the message to be growing in your character, and setting yourself up for the future – and then like making friends and mental health be in there too,” Brinkley said.
This story was originally published July 23, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
