Since its founding more than 35 years ago, Outreach – Center for Community Resources, formerly the Employment Opportunity and Training Center (EOTC), has supported families and promoted economic self-sufficiency through a comprehensive suite of services. Focusing on key areas such as life skills, literacy, employment training, parenting, early childhood education, youth mentoring, and wraparound case management, Outreach aims to strengthen communities by empowering one family at a time.
Annually, Outreach impacts the lives of nearly 5,000 people of all ages through its award-winning workforce and family development initiatives. Programs are thoughtfully designed—and constantly evolving—yet always rooted in giving respect, cultivating trust, and believing in personal growth.
Ninety-two percent of participants in Outreach programs live below the federal poverty guideline, earning $19,720 or less per year. Poverty at any age poses its own set of challenges, but for young adults, poverty—compounded by involvement with the child welfare or justice systems, substance use, or trauma—requires a different type of response. After many conversations with staff and young adults participating in other Outreach programs, the vision for a dedicated Young Adult Center began to take shape.
Outreach’s leadership unveiled the wholly transformed Young Adult Center in early 2024. The previously tight and restrictive space on the lower level of Outreach’s Seventh Avenue location was redesigned into a bright, open-concept space with a fully functional kitchen, café-style seating, shower, and laundry area. A new computer lab—complete with a virtual reality program to explore different careers—seamlessly connects participants to life skills and workforce development opportunities, while also providing space to spend time with peers.
The Young Adult Center is safe and welcoming—deliberately designed to foster a sense of belonging and purpose.
A genuine community effort, the Young Adult Center renovation was supported through a grant from Moses Taylor Foundation and additional backing from a Leadership Lackawanna project group. The center’s on-site gym—featuring a new treadmill, free weights, yoga mats, and a workout bench—makes it easy to integrate physical activity into a visit.
Manager of the Young Adult Center Thomas Cook explained, “Channeling stress or anxiety out of the body through exercise and mindfulness is really important. We talk a lot about caring for our whole selves, keeping our hands moving…the link between mind and body. And yes, most of our participants understand that concept. But we talk a lot about putting it into action and building the healthier life we want and deserve.”
Trauma-informed case managers are acutely attuned to participants’ needs. Their impact goes far beyond teaching the physical skills needed to live independently and join the workforce. The young adult case managers help participants learn about mindfulness, balance, responsible decision-making, and personal accountability.
Executive Director Lori Chaffers noted, “This is a space for our young adults to build relationships with each other and themselves. We want to help them understand that they’re an important part of our larger community, just like Outreach is part of something bigger. No single person or agency does big things all alone.”
Outreach has built strong ties with partners, health systems, social service agencies, and employers over the past three decades and continues to nurture these symbiotic relationships.
Much like its one-to-one, individualized approach with participants, the Outreach team doesn’t measure success solely by the numbers. Some young adults in the program have earned GEDs and celebrated acceptance into post-secondary programs. Others have been reunified with family or formally adopted; some now live independently, and one participant started a business a few months ago. Many have also learned how to cook a healthy meal, use a crockpot, and do laundry. And some have stopped skipping school, no longer bearing the label of “truant.”
Every win looks different for each person and situation. And each step toward building a healthy, economically self-sufficient life—whether big or small—is a success worth recognizing.
Chaffers added, “Our programs are touching lives, and Outreach is growing in a needs-responsive way. We’ll continue to listen, expand our service lines, and support on-site team members doing such important work. When our participants are ready for more, we always want to be ready to give them more.”
