Hope Center

History of CCY

In 1996, an ad hoc committee convened by Walla Walla Department of Parks & Recreation, set about to explore to possibility of creating and maintaining a youth center in Walla Walla. The impetus for this was the result of a survey developed by Dr. Steve Rubin, professor of psychology at Whitman College, that indicated that area youth, who are not formally attached to other programming, wanted "a place to call their own."

The Children's Forum in 1998 identified the lack of a place for teens who weren't otherwise engaged in positive social structure and identified this as a priority. The Community Network led the effort to engage local teens in discussion about a center, and energy and momentum quickly grew.

The Center first opened in November 1999 at the National Guard Armory on Colville Street in Walla Walla. The youth, community groups and partners that collaborated to develop The Teen Center envisioned an organizational structure that would make The Teen Center's mission to promote, establish, support, advise and operate a community center for youth in the Walla Walla area a reality.

In October, 2007, the Teen Center relocated from the National Guard Armory to Lincoln Alternative High School. Five days a week, CCY offers after school and evening programming to middle school and high school aged students from throughout the Walla Walla Valley and northeast Oregon.

As of September 2009, CCY's current home is St. Pat's Youth Center and is providing services to our community's youth three days a week.