A new youth center in New Braunfels is giving middle and high school students a free place to spend time after class, connect with friends and receive support during a critical stage of their adolescence.
The Mill Street Youth Center opened this spring inside the renovated original New Braunfels High School building. The center serves students in grades six through 12 and offers activities including games, cooking, music and sports.
Just in time for the new school year, the center is launching a free after-school tutoring program.
The $16 million renovation began with a vision in 2021 to create a safe community space where students can play, grow and connect outside of school and away from their phones and technology.
“We’ve had over 200 students every day coming into the facility, and they participate in everything,” Mill Street Youth Center executive director Stacey Dicke said.
Dicke said the center was designed to address challenges many teens face, including loneliness, anxiety and isolation.
“We talk a lot about this age group: that they’re lonely, that they have high anxiety, that they don’t know how to communicate, that they are isolated,” Dicke said. “But what we’ve seen is when they get inside this facility, all of that goes away.”
For seventh grader Elyana Wolf, the center has become a regular part of her life.
“It’s not just, like, one thing to do,” Wolf said. “There’s multiple things to do, and you’ll always find yourself doing something with other people.”
Wolf said the center gives students a place where they can be active, talk with staff members or spend time with friends.
The Mill Street Youth Center is operated by the New Braunfels Youth Collaborative, a newly formed nonprofit behind what organizers describe as a first-of-its-kind teen center for the community. With the school year beginning, leaders said the addition of free tutoring will expand the center’s role as both a safe, gathering place and a support system for students after school.
The youth center is sponsored by community members, businesses and nonprofits. Anyone who would like to help support their mission can click here.
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