CTeen Bucks County opens 1st safe space for Jewish teens in Pennsylvania
SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. (CBS) -- The Lubavitch of Bucks County's CTeen program has opened Pennsylvania's first safe space for Jewish teenagers. Members of the community say the center is a much-needed resource.
The center opened Sunday night in Southampton and is the first of its kind in the region.
"The CTeen lounge is a place for teens to come together, gather together, build a network of the camaraderie of like-minded teens to explore their heritage, their culture, especially at a time like today," CTeen Program Director Rabbi Chaim Shemtov said.
Shemtov says around 100 teens were in attendance for Sunday night's opening.
The center will provide both recreational and educational activities for the local and wider Jewish communities. The lounge is one of 20 similar centers that have been launched nationally under the CTeen umbrella.
Shemtov says plans for the creation of the center were accelerated to support local Jewish youth after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
"This place was planned for the summer. But after the news of Oct. 7 that shook the world, shook the Jewish world, we decided to put our pedal to the metal and to bring this space to the Jewish teens and accelerate the building and the opening," Shemtov said.
Teenagers who are a part of the CTeen program say seeing the development of the center has been a rewarding process.
"I was excited because I saw this lounge since we just bought [it] and there was nothing inside of here. I was excited to see how it came out," one teen said.
The center's features include PlayStation, ping pong, pool, a coffee bar, an indoor basketball hoop and foosball table. Shemtov says a music studio and art room are also in the works.
CTeen members say that the center is a place where they feel safe and can be themselves.
"To me, this is a place where I could come together with my friends. We don't really worry about the outside world. We share a lot of the same values and it's really nice just to look forward to coming here and seeing my friends," one teen said.
Shemtov says it's important to continue to support and empower local Jewish teenagers.
"Teenagers are the ones who are leaders. They're going to be going on to college. They're going to be making a difference in this world and it starts now. This is where they learn. This is where they build that confidence and that strength in what they believe in to bring it to the next level," Shemtov said.