Watch: Kacie Chitwood on the Alive Center’s Teen-Led Programs

In this Firks 5 episode, host Dan Firks talks with Kacie Chitwood, director of development at the Alive Center, about its teen-led, teen-driven programs, how the community can get involved as mentors, and its expansion to a fourth location in Glen Ellyn.

Read the full guide to the Alive Center in Naperville →

Video Transcript

Dan Firks: Hello, I’m Dan Firks, and this is Firks 5. Hello, I’m Dan Firks, principal agent of the Dan Firks Team, we’re a well-established boutique real estate team in downtown Naperville. Today I’m welcoming Kacie Chitwood with the Alive Center, located here in Naperville. Kacie is the director of development. Kacie, thanks for being here today with Firks 5.

Kacie Chitwood: Welcome to Alive, Dan, thanks for having me.

Dan Firks: Absolutely, I know you’re very busy and we really appreciate your time today. So we’re going to ask you five questions about the Alive Center and let our audience know what you’re all about. So tell me a little bit about yourself.

Kacie Chitwood: Well, as the director of development here at the Alive Teen Center, my work is to ensure that our clients, who are teens above grade five, have a safe space to go after school, as well as we provide programs that are actually led by high school teens, that are based on their passions. So my role here is to be sure that the space stays open, the lights stay on, and that we keep providing this leadership opportunity and this youth space for young people in Naperville.

Dan Firks: So Kacie, tell me, what’s the mission here at the Alive Center?

Kacie Chitwood: Our mission is to be a teen-led, teen-driven center focused on empowering the impassioned, resilient leaders of tomorrow.

Dan Firks: Well, that’s a mouthful, that’s wonderful. I’m sure the kids just appreciate this so much, a place to go after school.

Kacie Chitwood: Yeah, they do, and our leaders really appreciate the leadership opportunity that we provide them, so they write their programs, they instruct them, and they evaluate them, as well as market them, so it’s quite an entrepreneurial experience for the teen leads. And then the younger kids who are here, more for just drop-in, grades five through say eight, they get to take advantage of those programs, and they’re in so many different areas.

Dan Firks: What a great way to succeed. Kacie, tell me, how do you achieve your goals here at the Alive Center?

Kacie Chitwood: Well, I’m sure you’re familiar with fundraising a little bit, and how much it takes to engage the community. One of the best ways is to invite people into the center and help them see for themselves what it is that we do here and the impact we’re making on the lives of young people. But I like to say, through time, treasure, and talent, we seek partners who will help us continue to grow our mission.

Dan Firks: Do you have any fundraisers coming up?

Kacie Chitwood: We do, I’m so glad you asked.

Dan Firks: Yeah, tell me a little bit about that real quick.

Kacie Chitwood: May 12th is our Mardi Gras Gala, it’s our annual gala, it’ll be at Hotel Arista, and it’s a huge fundraiser. Our teens are always the highlight of our gala, so they will be there talking about what they’re facing today as young people, and I think we all know that kids are having a really tough time post-pandemic, and they’ll get to share with you what that means to them and what their future looks like from their perspective.

Dan Firks: That sounds like a very exciting evening, and I’m looking forward to attending it.

Kacie Chitwood: Please do.

Dan Firks: I will. So Kacie, how can the public get involved?

Kacie Chitwood: Always looking for mentors.

Dan Firks: Okay, so it’s volunteer-based, volunteer mentors?

Kacie Chitwood: Yep, so volunteers can come in and help those teen leaders refine programs that they’re leading. So perhaps somebody in a coding club, we would partner them with an engineer, say from Exelon, and someone with a coding background would come in and be a mentor to some of those teen leads. We also have community members come in and share their passion in all kinds of areas, as well as, certainly, time, which is in mentoring. Treasure, everything we do here for our clients is free, so basically everything comes from community donations and the work that we do as fundraisers. And then talent is really sharing your passion, what makes you come alive, is what we want you to share with younger people.

Dan Firks: Families?

Kacie Chitwood: Yeah, exactly.

Dan Firks: Let’s share with the audience real quick, what do volunteer hours look like, what time of day do you typically need people?

Kacie Chitwood: Every day after school, our drop-in hours start at 3 o’clock and then they go until 7 PM, here in Naperville. We’re always looking for volunteers who want to come in and work and interact directly with teens, a great example would be, one of our more prominent volunteers comes in and cooks in the kitchen with our kids and shares her passion for the culinary arts, some snacks and food and stuff. Whatever your true passion is, what makes you come alive, we want you to share that with young people, because when we share our passions, we ignite those passions in one another.

Dan Firks: I love it, that’s amazing. Did you know this? I was actually a cook in the Navy, so I love cooking.

Kacie Chitwood: That’s great, well I would love to have you attend one of those, come cook with the kids.

Dan Firks: Absolutely. So Kacie, tell me, what’s next for the Alive Center in 2023?

Kacie Chitwood: Well, we have four locations. Effective this fall, we are going to open our fourth satellite in Glen Ellyn, we’re in partnership with the B.R. Ryall YMCA, and they approached us, they’d like to offer our teen programming in Glen Ellyn. We actually opened up our Aurora satellite in 2018, we have a satellite location in Hanover Park that opened in 2022, and this will be our fourth location, now opening in Glen Ellyn. So communities continue to contact us, teens need a safe place to go.

Dan Firks: Absolutely, and not all kids tap in at school.

Kacie Chitwood: So our growth is definitely in our future, we recognize the need we’re meeting in the lives of young people. Most importantly is to give them a place to make face-to-face, interpersonal connections with one another outside of the school setting, and it sounds simple, but it’s vital to this particular generation of young people. Right now, they need it more than ever.

Dan Firks: Kacie, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today, really appreciate it.

Kacie Chitwood: It was my pleasure, thank you for being Alive.

Dan Firks: Absolutely, and we’ll see you around town. Thank you for watching this episode of Firks 5. Be sure to follow us at Dan Firks for your most up-to-date real estate trends and market conditions, and when the time comes to buy, sell, or invest in real estate, call Firks first. We’ll be here. See you next time. Have an amazing rest of your day.

Read the full guide to the Alive Center in Naperville →