Terry Coleman says that if Patterson didn’t have a teen center, he’d probably be at home, eating and watching TV.

Terry’s only been going to the center for about a week, but others say they have made hanging out at the teen center a daily habit for the past few years. The Creekside Middle School eighth-grader was one of about a dozen kids there after school on Tuesday, March 9.

Most kids there agreed with Terry that they’d probably be bored at home if they didn’t have the teen center. Some even say they wish it was open on weekends.

But the prospect of expanded open hours looks slim, especially with the teen center’s projected overall deficit for next year amounting to more than $17,000.

That’s why on Tuesday, March 2, Patterson’s City Council discussed the possibility of helping the center by funding its budget gap — the council could also partner with the Center for Human Services, a private non-profit in Patterson that runs the teen center.

The city and the center already help each other out. The city’s Youth Action Commission is made mostly of students who hang out at the center, and when the Parks and Recreation Department hosts its annual Skate the Circle event, the teen center staff helps out.

“By us coming together, we are able to offer more things than just the city or teen center can do by themselves,” said Jason Howard, the city’s recreation coordinator.

But with or without a partnership with the city, the center will need to find money to bridge its deficit, and soon — the end of this fiscal year is June 30.

The teen center is already funded by a host of grants and donations, according to Lori Schumacher, associate director of youth and family services for the Center of Human Services.

Since the teen center’s opening in 2002, about $29,000 a year — over a third of its budget — has come from United Way grants. The rest of the almost $40,000 it needs a year comes from other grants, with the exception of the deficit it has had for a few years. In the past, the teen center asked the Center for Human Services board of directors to help pay for the deficit by using CHS reserve funds. This year, however, Schumacher says they’re going to have to look elsewhere to fill the gap.

“We are not going to be able to go back and ask for another $17,000,” Schumacher said. The Center for Human Services is already dealing with its own budget reductions and challenges, she explained.

To make matters worse, the teen center’s projected deficit could increase if one or more grants don’t come through.

Schumacher is in the process of applying to renew the large United Way grants the teen center has come to rely on. In the meantime, the City Council has not decided on how — or if — they’ll help the teen center.

• Contact Amanda Matthews at 892-6187 or amanda@pattersonirrigator.com.