PRESS

Youth Express Keeps Rolling Along

Organization has put kids on road to success for 15 years

by Bryant Switzky

Jim Kelly doesn't have children. However, from his office at Youth Express, in a weathered brick building on the corner of Selby Avenue and Griggs Street, he talked about his proud, fatherly feelings

Kelly's eyes sparkled as he recalled taking his wife to the emergency room at the University of Minnesota earlier this year and being surprised when the doctor who came in to examine her was a former youth he had worked with. "It's very rewarding to see one of my kids do so well," he said.

Kelly, 51, is executive director of Youth Express, a nonprofit organization that is celebrating its 15th year of putting kids ages 7-18 on the path to success. Youth Express offers free summer and after-school activities, outdoor adventures, a group exclusively for girls and two business education programs. It serves more than 230 youngsters, 83 percent of whom are children of color and 68 percent of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

Kelly, who grew up a block and a half away from the Youth Express office and now lives in Merriam Park, is a prime example of how a troubled kid can become a productive adult. He dropped out of school in 9th grade, got in trouble and landed at a boys' ranch in South Dakota, joined the Army at 17, served a 10-month tour of duty in Vietnam and later got a job organizing activities at the Jimmy Lee and Dunning recreation centers

In 1980, the Lexington-Hamline Community Council offered him a job coordinating the Neighborhood Connection, a youth organization spawned from a neighborhood improvement grant from the Dayton Hudson Foundation. In 1990, he founded Youth Express

Randy Treichel, who grew up on the same block as Kelly and works as director of enterprise development at Youth Express, believes Kelly's troubled childhood was an asset to the program. "He uses his experiences as a baseline to help these kids," Treichel said. "He's never judgmental. He'll meet them where they're at and go from there."

Treichel is in charge of overseeing the organization's most visible venture: the Express Bike Shop, which is now celebrating its 10th anniversary at the corner of Snelling and Marshall avenues. Teens are paid to work at the shop, where they learn bike repair and how to run a small business

"Our goal was never to train the next generatino of bike mechanics," Treichel said. "We use the bike shop environment to try to give every youth associate an understanding of what it takes to operate a business."

Youth associates at the bike shop learn accounting, advertising, merchandising, sales and customer service. The shop operates out of a grey cinderblock building that used to be a gas station.

The shop sell used bikes and new accessories. The St. Paul and Minneapolis police departments donate some of the bikes, while others are purchased from individuals. The youths then repair the bikes and sell them to the public. The shop also does general bike repairs and tuneups

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon in June, seven customers were examining the merchandise in the sshop when a donated bike came in. Manager Dave Melvin gave it a once over before sending it to the repair area in the back of the building. He said the bike, which was a rusty forest green with loose handlebars and no front tire or pedals, was "too far gone" to repair, but had and antique chain that was worth salvaging.

In the repair area, a boom box played techno music as Adam Lafrenier, 16, picked up a wrench and began removing the back tire of the new arrival. Lafrenier, who has been working at the shop for three months, puts in 20 hours per week for $6.00 an hour and takes the bus from his home on St. Paul's East Side, an hour-and-a-half commute each way.

In the 10 years it has been open, more than 80 young people have worked at the shop and have earned a total of $150,000 in wages. A majority of the shop's former employees have gone on to graduate from high school, attend college and gain employment. Six have started their own businesses.

Youth Express also recently started a new business of its own. This spring, the organization opened Express Lane Consignments in the former space of its Expression Skateboard Shop, which closed last fall after operating for two years at 168 N. Griggs St. The new store helps customers sell items on eBay, with some of the proceeds benefitting programs of the Youth Express.