PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Behind the Little H.O.M.I.E.S. Youth Education and Recreation Center you'll now find kids playing on a new basketball court.
The kids there have some big dreams.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" asked News 3 reporter Erika Craven on Sunday.
"Basketball player," answered Roman A. of Portsmouth.
"It's either football player or basketball player," said George M. of Portsmouth.
While basketball might help bring kids in to the recreation center — which has been working to help cultivate community, build leadership skills and inspire — it is not the only reason kids stick around.
"We're getting a lot of kids who if they have idle time might be getting into something in the neighborhood that they shouldn't get into. So they come here five days a week straight after school. It's definitely a safe place for them. It combines the neighborhoods that maybe in the past had conflict with each other. And these kids are growing up with each other now and not being strangers," said Eugene Swinson, who helps runs the center as co-founder/director of Big H.O.M.I.E.S. Community Outreach.
"You can make new friends, people that don't go to your school," added Roman A.
The kids play together...
"They don't allow fighting, cussing and stuff like that or horseplay," said George M.
...and they're supported and encouraged to learn.
"Once we get them in here we try to give them [skills] that will help them later on in life," said Swinson.
Since News 3 was at the recreation center's opening in Aug. 2023, it's only been expanding. There's new spaces for teens including a podcasting room and recording studio, classes and workshops on things like gang awareness, and, in many spaces, artwork and photographs showcasing lots of hometown role models.
Of course, that means people who the kids' look up to.
"Do you look up to anyone?" asked Craven.
"Dorian Finney-Smith," Roman A. responded.
"The guy most people know from Portsmouth is Dorian Finney-Smith," Swinson explained.
He mentioned there are other inspiring people from Portsmouth too, like former Detroit Pistons player Vernon Macklin who is from the Dale Homes neighborhood.
"Vernon Macklin actually played with Dorian Finney-Smith's older brother . . . The basketball community really credits him with being one of the first ones who opened the door to let us know oh we can do that."
Macklin is the subject of the newest bit of hometown representation at the recreation center. Swinson said in April they'll dedicate the court to Macklin — after they outfit the court with graphics showcasing the basketball player's career and find someone in the community to help re-sod the surrounding area.
"You did something in Portsmouth, you come from some of these same neighborhoods, I try to highlight it to the kids," said Swinson.
While News 3 stopped into the recreation center Sunday there was another group also using the space to empower and inspire young people.
A group called Girl Code, which is one of the resources utilized by Portsmouth's crime prevention initiative Portsmouth United, brought 13- to 17-year-old girls together for a mental health workshop. Sunday they had a discussion with a certified mental health counselor about how "it's okay to not be okay" and about finding people to talk to if you need help.
"Everyone needs it. A lot of times we are closed off, we don't know who to speak to, we don't know when to speak, and sometimes women harm themselves as well. So, I just want to make sure they're equipped," explained Markia Griffin, founder of Girl Code.
Griffin said her program's not just about mental health either as Girl Code supports young women as they boost self-confidence and learn a broad range of life skills. That effort, she says, is instrumental in both their personal and community growth.
Girl Code is currently building out a big sister, little sister mentoring program.
