PORT ANGELES — The man was just walking through the crowd when a woman called out, “Hi, Mike!”
She was a stranger, but she’d read his name tag and asked, “Do you want to come over and talk?”
“I guess . . .” Mike replied, coming to the table where Alona Koehler sat ready to chat.
Turns out Mike, 19, was the kind of person Koehler and her cohorts hoped to meet during Project Homeless Connect, last month’s event promoting local resources for the homeless, held at the Vern Burton Community Center in Port Angeles.
Koehler is site manager for the Dream Center, a kind of drop-in lunch counter for homeless youth age 13 to 24.
This year, Dream Center staffers are hoping to expand their offerings, now that the upstairs activity room at 535 E. First St., is freshly remodeled by volunteers from The Home Depot in Sequim.
Stop by the center now, and you’re likely to be handed a bowl of hot soup or chili and invited to sit down, relax, and if you feel like it, converse with Diana Malacalza, who’s been working here since August.
She came from Denver’s inner city, where she was a middle-school music teacher.
Malacalza enjoyed working with teenagers, but too much of the time she felt her hands were tied too tightly to reach out to the ones who needed help.
She went for a career change, became an AmeriCorps volunteer, and landed the job of her choice: Showing young people the way to go after their dreams.
People like Mike may not have known anybody who could tell them how to pursue a general educational development certificate, or GED; how to get into classes at Peninsula College; how to find a job in which they can actually advance, how to find a nice apartment even if they didn’t have references.
Home-job-school puzzle
That home-job-school puzzle has been solved many times at the Dream Center.
Just in the past year, for example, nine young clients got into Peninsula College, Koehler said. She and Malacalza spoke of one young man who at 18 couldn’t seem to get his life on track.
The Dream Center staff helped him with job-search skills and encouraged him to apply to Peninsula College. A year later, he’s cooking at the Bushwhacker Restaurant in Port Angeles and living in an apartment near the college, where he’s taking classes and planning to eventually transfer to a culinary academy in Seattle.
Koehler declined to give her client’s name, saying only that he’s “a sweet guy” who worked his way out of an awful situation and onto a bright path.
For many, it takes awhile to figure out where such paths begin, Malacalza said.
A young man who’s been couch surfing — moving from friend’s place to friend’s place — and doing odd jobs that don’t lead anywhere can get pretty despondent.
Alcohol and other drug use can complicate things.
The Dream Center’s role is not to rescue anyone, but to shine a light on one’s potential for a more secure and peaceful life.
“We explain that ‘we’re here to assist you, but we’re not going to do it for you,'” Malacalza said.
First, of course, the center must attract teens and 20-somethings. The hot meal provided every weekday helps a lot.
But in the redecorated upstairs, Malacalza and company want to do more: game nights, a “homework club” with volunteer tutors, even open-mic nights for those with something to say, sing or play.
The Dream Center is looking for adult volunteers to hang out upstairs and supervise these activities, which would take place during the week.
Serenity House of Clallam County, the Dream Center’s parent organization, will conduct background checks on those who apply, but the only qualifications a volunteer must have are appreciation and empathy for young people.
A few hours
Volunteers can work a few hours a week or a month, and they can always suggest new activities, Malacalza said.
She also hopes for more volunteers who can donate food or help cook.
Already, Sergio’s Mexican restaurant and the Chestnut Cottage, both in Port Angeles, provide generous portions of rice, beans, soup and other comfort food.
Spending time with young people — offering moral support and a sense of possibility — is its own kind of reward, she added.
“If people come in to the Dream Center, they want help,” even if it takes several meals and loads of laundry for them to ask for, say, guidance in applying to Peninsula College.
Malacalza has learned to persist on this job — and to cultivate her positive spirit.
“At times it can be frustrating,” she said, “when you see a client who was on a successful track go back to where they were before.
“The challenge is keeping that hope alive, and continuing to be there for that person.”
And when Malacalza and her co-workers see a young man or woman turn onto a new course, “it feels really good.”
Days can be busy
Some days are busier than others at the center; on a recent Tuesday, 26 youths came by.
A recent month saw 125 unique visits, Koehler said, adding that youths come from Sequim and Forks as well as Port Angeles.
They sign in on the old computer, have some soup, maybe do a little laundry while chatting with the others sitting at the counter.
Malacalza and case manager Pam Olson circulate, filling the air now and again with their laughter.
“This is definitely a warm environment,” said Dream Center client Joe Mulvaine, 23.
Turning to hold the front door open for two young women, he added that he hopes to pursue a GED, though that will be difficult with his days full of manual-labor jobs.
Malacalza, meanwhile, wants to earn a master’s in social work. She’ll continue on that path after her AmeriCorps service ends in July.
Here, now, “I feel like I’m really making a difference.”
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Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@ peninsuladailynews.com.