The Miccio Center has a new program director

The Miccio Center has a new program director. Roland Knight, who grew up in Red Hook, replaces the popular Trequan Bekka, who was promoted to a Good Shepherd facility in East New York.

Knight, who wants to be present at as many community events as he can, has seen Red Hook change very much over the years, and in his opinion, it has changed for the better.

“It is a lot safer,” Knight said. “When I grew up in the early 90s there was a lot of volatile activity and a lot of drug activity going on. Those things have simmered down, which is really good. Over the years we have more programs that are catered to getting our kids off the street and into something that is conducive for their success.”

Before he accepted his current role at the Miccio Center he managed the COMPASS program at a charter school in East New York. His role consisted of being the director of programming for elementary school students.

This community center was around back when Knight was growing up, but back then it was run by the Police Athletic League. Good Shepherd has it as their mission to lead, provide and advocate for the participants and provide the services that are needed.

The new program director believes the Miccio provides a great space for the community, and one of his goals coming up is to partner with various organizations in Red Hook.

“I think there are a lot of resources here and we might not always communicate with each other,” said Knight, who’ll be “trying to figure out ways we can bring everyone together and see what is being provided for our youth and what ways we can collaborate and provide more services and things for our participants to be exposed to.”

At the Miccio all the programs are free. The participants are given a place where they can feel safe and learn something and develop socially, emotionally and physically.

They have an after-school program throughout the school year for elementary and middle school students and they have evening and weekend programming for older ages.

The Rebound program, which is a work readiness program that uses basketball to help youth focus on their future, has operated at the Miccio Center. This is for ages 17-24.

“The Rebound program is a really good program,” Knight said. “I am checking in with them and chatting with them to see what kind of ways we can continue to collaborate.”

Another resource that the Miccio provides is summer camp for the community starting on July 2. They will be doing registration until the end of the school year.

The kids are taken on a trip once a week, are provided breakfast and have various activities scheduled throughout the day that Knight was in the process of putting together.

Various organizations also can sign up to use the space at the Miccio Center. They generally want about a one month warning from the organization, but if something comes up sooner they will try to make an accommodation.

“If someone wants to use the space, you would have to fill out a space request form or core locator form if you want to provide services for a continuous amount of weeks,” Knight said. “That has to be approved by us. For example, we have a coach that uses the gym for his basketball team, and he does it twice throughout the week.”

The core locator is a person or organization that regularly comes in to provide a specific service. There is a core locator that does a cooking workshop twice a week at night with teenagers. This organization is called Teen Chef.

“They learn how to cook different dishes that are nutritious,” Knight said. “Nutrition is something that humans need to be more conscientious of. We want them to be more conscientious of what they take in as far as food.”

There is also a regular weightlifting activity at the community center, they have a lounge where kids can play video games, there is a space where kids can do arts and crafts, and the gym is also regularly open for basketball tournaments or pick-up games.

“If there are any families that are looking for free services from Good Shepherd, please come on out,” Knight said.