Abel Maldonado Youth Center expands hours, activities for Santa Maria teens during winter break
SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- The Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department is now offering expanded hours and activities for children at the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center.
Beginning this week, the center is now open earlier at 2 p.m. and closes at 8 p.m. each day Monday through Friday.
The new temporary time scheduled provides kids with 1 1/2 more hours of time at the downtown facility during weekdays.
On weekends, hours of operation are from noon to 8 p.m on Saturdays and closed on Sundays.
There are a number of activities available at the center that are available without cost to participants.
"We have various amenities," said David Rodriguez, Mayor's Task Force for Youth Safety Coordinator. "We have a movie room with thousands of movies that teens can choose from. We have a computer lab with computers that teens can use. We have an arts and crafts studio that's fully stocked. We have a fitness center where teens can come and work out. Our basketball court is very popular."
The Able Maldonado Youth Center serves all boys and girls in grades 7 through 12 (12 to 18 years old).
"Aside from the fact that it's free, this is a safe opportunity for them to meet new friends and maybe find an interest that they didn't know that they had, and so by participating in our programs, they'll be able to kind of see what they might like what sort of hobbies they might want to get into," said Rodriguez. "Everything that we provide is free. It's a safe setting here at the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center. We definitely invite the teens to leave their homes and come here, and not stay in, not sleep in and come here and have some fun at the youth center and participate in our programs."
Located on 600 S. McClelland St., about a block south of the Santa Maria Town Center mall, the facility is a "drop in" format, which means teens may enter or leave at any given time during the designated hours.
The extended winter break holiday hours will run at the Maldonado Youth Center through Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.
For more information, click here for the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department.
