IONIA, Mich. — There's been an increase of youth violence across the country. According to a 2023 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide and homicide were the second and third leading causes of death for people aged 10 to 24 in 2021. It's why the Soaring Above Teen Center in Ionia is so important as it's giving a safe place to kids in the community.
Zoey Hall, 13, has been visiting the teen center since 2022.
"It's just fun, it's place I can go, just "chill-ax," said Hall at the center Wednesday. "I usually talk, or I play ping-pong a lot, it's really fun, or like eight-ball."
Without the center, many of these teenagers wouldn't have a place to go.
"[I would be] sitting at home for hours on my phone," said 14-year-old Jaelynn Cooper.
Ken Baker, founder of the center, knows that home might not be the safest place for some of the teens. It's why he and his wife Sally started the organization in 2013.
“I grew up in a very abusive house," Baker said. “I ended up leaving home when I was 13, I lived on the streets. I lived in abandoned houses, abandoned cars, ate out of garbage cans, did whatever I had to do to survive."
The Bakers are hoping the center will prevent teens from experiencing the same things he did.
"Had something like this been around, I might not have made the same choices that I made," said Baker. "Fortunately, the choices I made also made this become a reality."
They implement rules in the center for the teens to follow.
"We don't allow bullying… when they come in, they can talk to their parents or do homework, but after that, we ask them put their phones away, because it is really easy for them to start bullying each other back and forth," Baker said.
The center also provides free resources for teens in need.
"We have a free room that they can get clothes, personal hygiene products, shoes, socks… food, we provide for them everyday," said Baker.
It's what many of the teens call a "safe space."
"[It] helps us make better decisions, because you can't really get in trouble here and you make new friends that can keep you out of trouble," Cooper added.
"[It] just helps a lot with confidence and other parts of my life," said 14-year-old Emilee Thele.
The center relies solely on the kindness of the community and is always in need of more donations.
"We can always use clothes, personal hygiene products. We can use food," Baker said. "Funding we can always use, obviously, because we do have to pay our bills on top of buying the buying the food for the kids."
The Bakers hope to open a second center in the future so that they might reach more kids in the West Michigan area. If you'd like to find more information, visit their website here.
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