Introduction to the YO! Directory,
Youth Opportunities in the City of Trenton, New Jersey
1997-98
Youth Opportunities Directory
Mea Kaemmerlen, editor
Published by the Trenton Youth Services Commission in partnership
with the Mercer County Youth Services Commission and the Trenton
Delegation of the Presidents' Summit for America's Future
Contents
Letter from the Mayor
Letter from the Editor
Section One: Youth Opportunity Organizations
Section Two: Programs listed by type
Academic/Cultural
Recreational
Girls Only
Boys Only
Employment-related
Tutoring
After school
Summer
Section Three: Trenton's Resources
Day Care
Hospitals
Trenton Animal Shelter
Trenton's Religious Life
Social Service/Crisis
Hotlines
Government
Civic Associations
Historical Notes
Volunteering
Section Four: Exploring Trenton
Places of interest
Walks and Tours
Coming soon
An eventful year
Trenton and New Jersey Outdoors
River and Canal
A word from the editor
One evening, while working on the last stages of the YO! Directory, I got the notion
to count the number of words, and, with help from my calculator, I came up with somewhat
less than 24,000 words. The next day I called April Aaronson, Trenton's Director
of Health and Human Services and the motivating force behind YO!, who answered my
next question: in the 1990 census, Trenton boasted 23,492 young people from the ages
of birth to 17 years. I was astonished and pleased: a word for every child and teenager
in the city! Subsequently, YO! had more power for me-and in the remaining days of
typing, proofing, writing, fact-checking, phoning, and proofing again, I found new
meaning in a volume in which each word represents a youngster for whom it is compiled.
Children are a bit like words. Words are made up of letters and form unique meanings.
They interact with other words in sentences to express thoughts; sentences are then
joined into paragraphs; and paragraphs into chapters; and chapters into books. The
building block of this process is the individual word, which must be spelled correctly,
acknowledged, understood, and used properly within its unique meaning and its context
within the whole.
Likewise, children are made up of a diversity of traits which fuse into unique beings.
Alone, they are rich with meaning, but in the heritage and traditions of their families,
they develop nuance and character. Their families, in turn, join neighborhoods which
evolve into a myriad of customs and culture. Neighborhoods then form the community
at large. Children, with their families, are the building blocks of society. Each
contributes uniqueness to the whole: creativity, complexity, inquisitiveness, vigor,
charm, humor, courage, audacity, intelligence, quirkiness, mischievousness. When
children are nurtured into building their skills and respected for their individual
character, they become strong participants in the community and in life. It is hoped
that this directory will help guide families, teachers, and others working with youth
to resources to encourage the strengths of each child.
The second edition of the YO! Directory began in the summer, when we sent out questionnaires
to organizations throughout Trenton. The following pages reflect the information
provided by the organizations themselves about their programs. An amazing variety
of activities for Trenton's youthful residents was forthcoming: in-school and after-school
programs, recreation, tutoring, community service, theater, dance, summer camps,
job-training, enrichment, discussion groups, computer training, and much more. In
total, 174 programs are described in the 1997-98 YO! Directory. Inclusion does not
imply endorsement.
I have enjoyed working on this project. My mentor is Everard K. Pinneo, former Executive
Director of the Princeton-Blairstown Center and the spearhead of YO! He conceived
of and produced the first YO! Directory several years ago as a member of the Trenton
Youth Services Commission. I was privileged to work with him then, and his vision,
energy, and commitment have stayed with me through this edition.
Special thanks go to the following:
- Joy Notin, Senior Library Assistant of the Trenton Public Library, drew by hand
the map on the next two pages, the only up-to-date map of Trenton I have seen.
- Randy Silver, artist, and Eleanor Kubaki, manager, of EFK Productions, who created
the splendid cover.
- Hilary Ziff, proof reader extraordinaire, who made several special trips from
her home in New York City to check for typos, inconsistencies, and misinformation.
- Bill Doran, Trenton fire fighter, whose pride in and enthusiasm for Trenton inspired
much of the information scattered throughout the directory. He also worked with Ms.
Notin on the map.
- Peter Gibson, Princeton Online, who moved YO! into digital life on the Internet.
Address: princetonol.com.
- Other thanks go to the following for their support and suggestions: to Nancie
Dent, Executive Director of the YMCA; to Beverly Richardson, Provost at Mercer County
Community College; to Pat Sayles at the Department of Health and Human Services;
to Linda Santiago, a special friend; to colleagues at the Family Growth Program at
Catholic Charities. And to Al Kaemmerlen, who, like myself, is a great fan of Trenton
and its young people.
Mea Kaemmerlen
October 1997
Acknowledgements
Cover created and designed by Randy Silver, EFK Design, Trenton
Map on pages vi/vii by Joy Notin, Senior Assistant Librarian, Trenton Public Library
Production and graphics by Mea Kaemmerlen
Publication of YO! Online by Peter Gibson of Princeton
Online
[Return to YO! Directory Homepage]
Mea Kaemmerlen, editor
Yo! logo created by the EFK Group, Trenton
Published under the auspices of
The Trenton Youth Services Commission in partnership with
The Mercer County Youth Services Commission and
Trenton Delegation of the Presidents Summit for America's Future
