Bethlehem Center provides Alternative Fall Break

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- One organization is keeping youth off of the streets and away from violence in a positive setting, and it’s been going all week for fall break.

“What we do here is talk about our leadership and we let people come in and talk about, like Sleep is for Suckers came in yesterday morning they talked to us about how we get money, today its about entrepreneurship,” said Azia Howser a junior at Howard High.

This is just one of many sessions that these young people have attended, thanks to the Bethlehem Center and the Black Wall Street Tour.

The classroom settings are built to help kids manage money, set goals, and enrich their own community.

The staff here, like many other youth,  came from settings where they can relate and impact the children.

“Talking just like talking how our people will talk to us, like our family. And she started saying she came from drug dealers, shootings in her neighborhood and like a lot of people started crying. Oh, she’s just like us and she grew up and she’s great.”

Outside of the classroom many fun challenges await the kids

“It’s hard to go to sleep when you have so much to do till the next day, like we got to sit through classes and then go outside, and like yesterday we went rock climbing and I couldn’t go to sleep for that whole night,” says Lerenzo Brock a freshman at Red Bank High school.

The Bethlehem Center at the end of the trip hopes the children take back what they learned and start making an impact in their community.

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For more information about the Bethlehem Center and the programs they provide click here.

For more information about the BlackWallStreetTour and their programs click here.

Complimentary of Mayor video done by J. Adams of Letterbox Creative Media Group.