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The converted brick house on Lowdermilk Street is the Salvation Army’s newest outreach to the teen community.

The Club, a structured and supervised after-school center, is the outgrowth of a desire by nearby Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church, which owns the building, and the Boys and Girls staff to provide a safe place for youth to study and socialize.

“There’s really nothing else in this area for the kids,” said the Rev. Johnny Pearson, church pastor and a Boys and Girls Club alum.

When Gethsemane offered the building on the same campus as the church, at 715 Lowdermilk St., Boys & Girls Clubs Executive Director Amos Quick jumped at the opportunity: The nonprofit didn’t have any programs locally.

“This is a great example of how a church can reach out to the community,” Quick said during the building dedication Wednesday.

The project is a work in progress.

The computer room has a single computer.

Hookups are available for a washer and dryer, which will be used to teach youngsters life skills, but the appliances are not in the budget.

Actually, there is nothing in the budget even for the healthy snacks that Ashley Jackson, the teen club director, wants to provide for the youngsters when they arrive to start their homework.

That’s where Jackson hopes Greensboro will step in.

Besides the needed big-ticket items, she’d also like to see area artists help the teens paint planned murals and other volunteers share career skills.

Jackson plans to approach GTCC about culinary art projects with the students.

“This is such an opportunity for us,” Jackson said.

Even as they work toward all of those things, Jackson said, the foundation of the program is already in place: spiritual development, character building and academic assistance.

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com