62 Years of Dedicated Service
In 1993, Denis Zijadic escaped the war in his native Bosnia as a refugee and fled to Germany. After spending four years there, they were going to send him back to Bosnia. Denis knew it was still extremely dangerous in Bosnia and decided to apply for permanent refugee status in Holland. He was denied. His last hope was gaining permanent refugee status in the United States, which he was granted in 1999.
With the help of The Don Bosco Community Center, he settled in Kansas City with his wife and son, and is currently the Job Placement Supervisor for Don Bosco's Nationalities Service Center.
Denis is just one of hundreds of people The Don Bosco Community Center helps each year. Each of the six Don Bosco centers is dedicated to helping the residents of the North-east Kansas City area. The Don Bosco Community Center consists of the Youth Development Center, Education Center, Family Support Center, Counseling Center, Nationalities Service Center and Senior Center.
The Youth Development Center provides after-school and summer programs to keep kids busy and to teach them about hard work, respect and leadership. In addition to the after school and summer programs, the youth are also taught life skills in programs like Male Responsibility for Young Men, and C.H.A.T. (Creating Healthy Attitudes Together) for Young Women.
The Education Center has a Charter High School, boasting 112 graduating seniors in May. As a non traditional high school, the four-year-old Don Bosco Charter High School offers self-paced classes to 200 students each day from the ages of 14-21. The small class sizes and personal attention from teachers help the students move forward with confidence.
The Family Support Center provides assistance to thousands of people each year through clothing, utility assistance and case management. For many of the families assisted through the Family Support Center, the emotional stresses often need attention as well.
The Counseling Center helps individuals and families cope with a myriad of issues and problems such as depression and anger management. Don Bosco's partnership with Truman Medical Center guarantees the most professional and respectful approach to the clients.
The Nationalities Service Center helps hundreds of immigrants who come into this country get resettled into the Kansas City area. Like Denis, many of these immigrants come from violent and poor countries, and the Nationalities Service Center helps them find a place to live, furnish their new home and find a job. In addition, English as a Second Language classes are provided. Many of these new Americans are afraid but eager to adapt to the American culture. The Nationalities Service Center helps to alleviate some of these fears through programs like "Friends-to-Mentors” which pairs immigrants with Kansas City residents who are willing to reach out and help acclimate them to their new surroundings.
On any given day, the Senior Center is a lively place where seniors can play a game of pool or take dance lessons. Foreign language classes are also offered, as well as bingo games and movie showings. Perhaps most importantly, a nutritious hot lunch is served daily. More than 200 seniors visit the center each day, but over 800 homebound seniors are served on a daily basis with a lunch delivered by Meals-on-Wheels.
The Don Bosco Community Center has provided services to the residents of the Northeast Kansas City area for the past 62 years. With six different centers, Don Bosco is able to touch the lives of over 2,000 people a day.
For more information about The Don Bosco Community Center and its programs, please visit our Web site at www.donbosco.org or call 816.691.2900.