Replay Outreach finishes teen business resource center with grant from Kiwanis Club of Bradenton Foundation

MANATEE -- An $18,000 grant from the Kiwanis Club of Bradenton Foundation gave a nonprofit that helps at-risk teens the wherewithal to put the finishing touches on a teen business resource center.

Replay Outreach was able to purchase a business conference table, business chairs, a big-screen projection promethean board and enough laptop computers to assign one to the at-risk youths involved with the Replay program. The Kiwanis was able to cut the organization a check last month, said Larry Rose, Replay's founder and president.

Youths involved with Replay who want to use the center at 1206 Sixth Ave. W. in Bradenton, will have to call ahead to assure an adult will be present, but eventually Rose hopes it can become a drop-in resource center.

"We try to work with kids when they get out of (detention) facilities, but many kids don't have a place to do that," Rose said. "Other clubs and facilities are not designed to work with kids the way we

want to."

The resource center provides opportunities for educating youths about workplace communication, resume development and using software such as Microsoft Excel.

"Some of those things a lot of people don't think about; like Facebook and how it's being used by the employer and how it can be used by the employee to seek other jobs and network," Rose said.

Adult mentors will also be available to help individuals develop skills and a plan for entering the workplace.

Rose became involved with visiting youth detention centers when he moved to Florida from Springfield, Ill., five years ago. When he visited with youths, he "saw a hopelessness in their eyes," which led him to launch Replay Outreach.

Replay began in 2012 at Bayside Community Church, working with youths from the Manatee Regional Detention Center. Volunteers from Replay would visit the detention center and provide guidance and direction with hopes of helping the teenagers find a different life path after their release. Since 2012, the program grew to help youths from the Palmetto Youth Academy and the Manatee County Jail. Replay also occasionally visits the Sarasota County Jail.

Eventually, Replay hopes to own a transitional house for youths after they leave juvenile detention.

"They come out ready to get back on the right track and end up getting back with their old friends and into their old environments," Rose said. "Many of them get back into the vicious cycle. The idea of the home would be for them to have freedom but under some guidance and discipline."

Replay volunteers and its board of directors decided they needed to provide a clear path for troubled youths and "employability is a crucial component." According to RAND, a nonprofit that does public policy research, inmates who participate in correctional education programs have 43 percent lower odds of returning to jail than others. Replay applied for a Kiwanis Club of Bradenton Foundation grant last year to make their hopes a reality.

Adrian Mays recently became director of Replay's Xceleration jobs program. The eight-week after-school training program helps teens from area alternative schools will learn to build communication skills and how to format resumes before being assigned to the job shadowing portion of the program.

"They work four hours out of the week at that job to get the experience," Mays said.

The Xceleration jobs program and helping furnish Replay's teen business resource center are exactly the kinds of projects the Kiwanis Club of Bradenton Foundation supports.

"We try to fund anchor spots for programs that will help youth in the community," said Steven Tinsworth, chairman of the foundation's charitable committee. The charitable committee decides which organizations receive grants each year based on nonprofit status and what they provide for youths in Manatee County. Kiwanis was the first charitable group to provide funding to Replay, Rose said, but the Manatee County Children's Services Advisory Board has also recommended providing $75,000 to Replay.

On Wednesday night, the Kiwanis foundation will decide which of 30 applicants will get grants this year.

Roland Emerton, development director for the foundation, will attend Wednesday night's meeting to better understand the selection process.

"It's hard to take a limited amount of money and decide, 'OK, who don't we give to?'" Emerton said.

Janelle O'Dea, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095 or follow her on Twitter @jayohday.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Replay Outreach finishes teen business resource center with grant from Kiwanis Club of Bradenton Foundation ."