A pleasant and safe place at the community centers

One of the goals of the community centers is to ensure that they are—and remain—a safe and welcoming place for children and teenagers. To measure this, we conducted a survey, which yielded some surprising insights.

Some of the children had filled out the questionnaire before; for others, it was their first time. Among other things, we asked them questions about how they were feeling, how things were going at school, at home, and with their friends.

This time, we added a new section to the questionnaire for the upper grades. We asked open-ended questions, such as why they come to Lumina, what else they would like to learn, what they get out of being at Lumina, and whether they have any ideas for new activities.

This generated some interesting and encouraging responses. While one person says, “Whatever you want,” another shares serious ideas about new activities or topics they’d like to see.

The most encouraging response came from one of the teenage girls: “Ever since I started coming to Lumina, I’ve felt so much better than before.”

That gives us even more energy and motivation to keep going. Because every child and every teenager deserves a safe, welcoming place.