RICHMOND, Ind. – As one of Wayne County’s longest-serving community organizations, Townsend Community Center continues helping residents overcome barriers.
The nonprofit serves as a resource hub, offering youth and adult programming while connecting residents with services to help overcome barriers and improve their quality of life.
“We are busy, busy, busy,” Townsend Community Center President Dr. Lucinda Wright said in a recent radio interview on 101.7 The Point.
“Our mission is to help individuals be the best version of themselves that they can, whether that’s one of our programs that they are participating in, we are also a resource center,” Wright said. “We try to help them to eliminate their barriers. And if we don’t have the programs or services to do so, we make referrals.”
Located at 300 N. 10th St., the center offers numerous youth and adult programs. Among its newest initiatives is the Anchor program, which provides mentoring and mental health education for young men.
“We just piloted a program called Anchor for Young Men ages thirteen to nineteen, but they do not turn anybody away that’s younger than thirteen or older than nineteen,” Wright said. “The gentlemen that are doing the mentoring, they’re accepting young men of all ages.”
The center also operates its CHOICE program, which stands for Chance, Hope, Opportunity, Independence, Courage and Excellence. Wright said the program was created to help reduce recidivism while assisting anyone seeking employment, education or greater independence.
Townsend also offers programs for women that focus on topics including parenting, relationships and mental health.
“We as women try to be everything all the time except for ourselves,” Wright said. “So it’s where we gather together as women and talk abut those subjects that are important. The challenges that are important to us, like parenting 21st century children, toxic relationships, positive relationships, mental health.”
In addition to its structured programs, the center also helps residents’ complete paperwork, apply for benefits and jobs, and access online resources.
Wright said Townsend’s approach is rooted in listening to residents and responding to their needs.
“We are a welcoming place,” she said. “We listen to what the community says, and we hear what they say. We meet people where they are.”
Townsend Community Center is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the summer. School-year hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with later hours on some days for programming.
