I’m Chauncey.

As youth, there are few places in town that are ours. The schools aren’t ours, the businesses aren’t ours, the organizations aren’t ours, and many of the decisions aren’t ours to make. Over the years, we’ve come to adopt certain places as our own. The seats outside of Aldrich’s, the picnic tables on the recreation center lawn, the skate park, Elevated Ice Cream at 9:30 at night, benches along downtown, and the Boiler Room. The Boiler Room is ours. We put it together. Generally speaking, we’re the ones who run it, we’re the ones who hang out there, and we’re the ones who make it what it is. It’s where the inexperienced become experienced, the non-expressive become expressive, the lonely gain friends, and the irresponsible children become…well, a little more responsible.

Once upon a time, I was afraid to go into the Boiler Room. Strange. Dark. Smokey. Spit. Attitude. Loud. Confrontational. Cliquey. Unsafe. Goth. These words and the negative concepts attached to them prevented me from ever even walking into the Boiler Room. Why would I ever want to influence myself in such a way? Why bother having an open mind? I had such a strong opinion with absolutely no experience to back it up. And then I woke up! I realized what the Boiler Room really is. It is what I want it to be. It is what I make it. Very soon after walking into the Boiler Room, for only the second time in my life, I became the social services intern. At 19, I was stocking condoms in the bathroom, helping homeless kids find a place to stay, hosting free educational discussions about sex and drugs, running a knitting group, organizing an art group, and helping run a community-owned non-profit coffee shop. One of the greatest programs that came out of my internship was a free bicycle repair program. Now a year and a half in running, the bicycle clinic has helped many members of the community fix their bikes and learn about bicycle mechanics. The program is sponsored by three other organizations, the Food Co-op, FreePT, and the Port Townsend Bicycle Association. The Boiler Room has given me is the opportunity to share my passion and skills with the community. What the community gave to me I was able to start giving back.

The Boiler Room is a community effort. Indeed, volunteers are what make the Boiler Room possible. And of course, it takes money too. So please help support the Boiler Room and what it does for this community by giving us more money.

Thanks.

- Chauncey Tudhope-Locklear, 21

_____________________________

I am Julie.

I’d like to begin by sharing a message from my brother Stephen (23), who is now in college in Oregon:

“The Boiler Room helped me in my recovery from drug and alcohol abuse and helped re-instill in me a love for community that I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else.  All of us have an impact on the community (no matter what age), and we can choose what kind of impact that is.  My experiences at the Boiler Room encouraged me to make my impact on the world a positive one.”

As for myself, I have watched the Boiler Room affect the lives of many people.  Seeing what a life-changing difference it has made (for my brother as well as others) creates a sense of hope within me, and has kept me motivated to volunteer at the Boiler Room, to support its cause and the services it provides, for the past three years.  Everyone benefits from having the Boiler Room in Port Townsend.

I thank you for your consideration tonight.

- Julie Plachta, 25