At YBMKQ’s after school program, students connect and a community hub is steadily growing

Photos courtesy of KDKA-TV. 

An organization in Penn Hills is giving young people a safe place to go and have fun after school, and also serving as a place for the community of Penn Hills to gather.

With energy to burn off, the afterschool programming from the Young Black Motivated Kings and Queens (YBMKQ) non-profit gives kids a place where they play with friends, enjoying everything from basketball to tug of war to running around the playground.

“I really like my friends,”  says 12-year-old Ahmia Foote, and she’s glad that after school she and her friends “have somewhere to go — a safe place to go, and have people to talk to.”

Foote has been in the after school program for two years. Her friend, 13-year-old MaKenzie Poston, is also a fan of the program.

“I like coming to the after school program because it gives me more time and gives me stuff to do,” Foote says. “Because if I was at home, I wouldn’t really do nothing but sleep and watch TV all day.”

Kids from 2nd through 10th grades not only let off steam at YBMKQ, but also do educational activities like writing prompts and science experiments with help from the Citizen’s Science Lab.

“I really like how they bring in education,” says Ahmia, “but they also bring it in, like, a fun way.”

Jaiden Blakeman, who is 12, appreciates the staff and how thoughtfully they look out for the students.

“Honestly, they take care of us like we’re their children,” Jaiden says. “That’s what I like about it.”

It’s all the vision of Kahlil Darden who founded YBMKQ five years ago when he was a student at Penn Hills High School and saw the need for a place for kids to go when the YMCA closed.

“It feels really good to be able to come back and give young people something that I wasn’t able to have when I was at school,” Darden says.

He also makes sure each child is given a mentor — someone on the staff they can talk to.

“They’re able to build personal relationships with the staff,” Darden says, and the staff truly understands the students. “The staff has nearly experienced everything that the young people now are facing.”

That understanding makes students feel comfortable seeking out mentors.

“If you have a problem, I feel like they’re the main ones you can come to,” MaKenzie says. “If you’re going through something or whatever, just go to them. Sometimes they’ll give you guidance.”

Darden knows how important it can be to have someone to talk to. His god-son was killed in a shooting in downtown Pittsburgh in 2022, and he named the facility — the De’Avry A. Thomas Community Center — after him. Now, he’s getting grant money to renovate the former school and expand programming to include a computer lab with 3D printers, an art studio and a co-working space, so that even more people can come and gather.

“I faced a lot of traumatic experiences over the last few years, and for me, it was being able to take that pain and turn it into purpose and provide spaces for young people who might be experiencing the things that I went through.”

There’s a nominal fee of only $50 per school year for the students to attend the after-school program. Kids from anywhere around the region are welcome. There are plans in the works for summer programming, as well.