That’s what the students in the PCYC Alternative School named our Vision for 2012…A Phenomenal Dream. 

Phenomenal: ”exceptional, uncommon, outstanding, highly extraordinary.”

Read it again with us:  “PCYC’s Vision for 2012.  Plymouth Christian Youth Center is a place of strength, safety and beauty where every young person is looked out for, nurtured, and challenged.  Youth, adults, families and communities come together to turn back the tides of poverty and violence, embracing hope, compassion, and the reality of a better world.”

That the students call this vision “phenomenal” is touching yet sobering.  Should this not be the ordinary, the expected life situation for children: that they are nurtured and challenge, that there is little poverty and violence, and that there is hope for a better world every day at school, at home, and in the community?

Yet we know that in North Minneapolis , for PCYC, there is still the “hopes and reality gap” in the lives of our young people and this community.  Our work is not yet finished.  Using the theater metaphor, the work of the staff and board and the accomplishment of our strategic goals over the past five years (new campus, new and renovated spaces, expanded programs, including the Capri Theater and cultural arts programs) have set the stage for the next act in the developing drama of Plymouth Christian Youth Center.  New players are joining the cast, staff, volunteers, public officials, colleagues, funders, youth and families.  The strategic planning process of 2006 wrote the script and designed the scenery.  The curtain is rising and the strategic goals and scenes are emerging all at once, as follows: 

Act 1 (Goal 1): Increase opportunities for school and life success. PCYC will promote positive development and academic achievement with nearly 3,000 children and youth each year by sustaining programs that are safe, structured and enriching.

Act 2 (Goal 2): Tackle the achievement gap head-on. PCYC will p rep are youth for real-world success by providing alternative education for at least 150 high school students annually, and will open pathways for older students and adults to also earn their high school diploma or equivalent and go on to higher education.

Act 3 (Goal 3): Lead the Capri Theater renaissance. PCYC will bring up the lights” on year-round arts programming that inspires young people, develops their skills, builds community, and draws thousands of youth and adults to a top-notch North Minneapolis performance venue on West Broadway.

Act 4 (Goal 4): Engage local citizens and strengthen collective action. PCYC will offer space, assistance and leadership to community groups and initiatives that are aligned with the mission and will welcome more than 4,000 people annually to meetings and events on its campus.

Act 5 (Goal 5): Sustain the mission. PCYC will conduct a major capital and endowment campaign, maintain a vibrant highly-regarded organization, and plan for successful leadership transition.

To achieve the Phenomenal Dream Vision and carry out the Strategic Goals above,  the players are committed to these operating principles: achieve life-changing results by adapting programs and activities to the times; create a caring, harmonious multicultural environment; work in trusting and respectful partnerships with youth, adults, families, organizations and communities; serve as a vital leadership anchor by offering hope and effective action; support the growth and well-being of staff, volunteers, and community friends; and, exercise wise stewardship of the organization’s gifts and assets.

Together, we continue to thrive.  Your support and applause inspires what we do.  Thank you.  Thanks also to the children, youth and families of North Minneapolis for letting us share their lives and their neighborhoods.  Together the difference we make will be more than a play, a stage, a script.  The difference will be enriched lives, safer neighborhoods, and brighter prospects for all.

If all goes well in our drama that which is now seen as phenomenal will someday be acknowledged as this community’s birthright, and the applause will ring out so every child hears and believes.

Anne Long
Executive Director

Mark Hegman
Board President