""There are too many cliffs that our young people are prone to falling off," Aboelata said during a groundbreaking event on Wednesday. "They leave the school setting, they graduate, or they become disconnected from school. They drop out. At 18, they fall off with certain benefits, or at 21 or 24. Because of the way our resources and systems are set up, young people fall through the gaps.""
""On Friday and Saturday nights, the center will stay open until 10 p.m., said Aquil Naji, the chief operations officer at Roots, "so that our children don't have to be at the bus stops or on the streets." "This is not a project where we're trying to make money," Naji said. "We're trying to build an asset to hand back over to our community.""
The Young People's Wellness Center will open in 2026 at the corner of 86th Avenue and International Boulevard in East Oakland, across from Allen Temple Baptist Church and the Boys and Girls Club. The center will serve 13- to 26-year-olds with confidential physical and mental healthcare, sexual and reproductive services, and substance use treatment. Planned amenities include a cafe, makerspace, pop-up barber and salon, safe social spaces, and workforce development programming. The center will remain open until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights to reduce youth exposure to streets. Phase one raised $2.3 million for construction; a further $3.2 million is sought for five years of programming and counseling services.
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