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Matthew Talbot Alliston Herald

Blue Frog Café coordinator Tina DeLos Santos and youth volunteer Amy Holden take a break from their day to visit the location of the upcoming youth café.

Trillium grant helps youth café leap forward

Blue Frog to open in March

BY Matthew Talbot, Staff January 20, 2010 17:01

Hundreds of teens from Banting Memorial High School walk past the building every weekday at lunchtime.

While it isn't much more than an empty space right now, in about six weeks it could be a new place for young people to gather, complete with couches, coffee and good food.

Community Service Centre South Simcoe (CONTACT) is behind a new café and venue for young entrepreneurs set to open in March right on Alliston's Victoria Street. When it opens in the former Time Out Café location at 41 Victoria St. E., the Blue Frog Café will be geared towards and staffed by youth.

Lianne Picot, executive director at CONTACT, said young people are too often trapped in the "no experience, no job, no job, no experience" cycle.

"A lot of young people are really struggling to access work," she said.

CONTACT is seeing an increasing number of teens coming into its adult resource centre, but they access services differently.

They need a youth-friendly place to gather, she said.

That's where the Blue Frog Café comes in.

The café will give them hands-on experience in customer service, retail and business planning and management.

A $176,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation is making start-up possible, and will help in covering initial rent and utility expenses and the salary of full-time co-ordinator Tina DeLos Santos.

Youth who work at the café won't be paid, but Picot said the profits "will go back into the Blue Frog and other youth programs."

Currently, 20 young people are working on a development and marketing strategy, and setting up the café.

Kjeld Poulson, 19, is one of them.

Poulson believes Alliston is rapidly growing and is "really starting to hustle and bustle" but youth could get left behind.

"There isn't a lot for youth to do in town," he said.

"I can either be with (growth) or against it."

He sees participating in the Blue Frog project as a way to shape the growth of the town and provide a space for kids not only to hang out but also to express themselves.

Poulson is in a band that's looking for an outlet, which Blue Frog could provide.

"For me, I want to be able to have an outlet for youth musically," he said. "I'm a musician and I want to get kids involved."

One of the café's more crucial aspects, Picot said, is as a venue for youth entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their goods, whether that's music, jewelry or art.

There will be a space, likely at the back of the café, dedicated as a sales area and a recycled clothing "swap shop" where they can trade clothes.

"Whatever youth are selling for their business, we'll support that," Picot said.

Hours will be tentatively from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (perfect for targeting that Banting lunch crowd) and then from 2:30 p.m. to 6 or 7 p.m.

For now, young volunteers are working with DeLos Santos on the café's interior design. She said there's still much to do, but hopes to meet the March opening.

CONTACT has set up a new website, www.youthcafe.ca, and is establishing a presence on Facebook and Twitter to market the café.

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