West End Center For Youth, Inc.

West End Center For Youth, Inc. Celebrating 45+ years! 🎉 West End Center is Roanoke City's oldest community after-school and summer program for students 5-18.

Staff:
Karen Pillis, Executive Director
Danny Britton, Director of Operations
Deseree Stanfield, Director of Education
Ryan Filegar, Peace Builders & Nutrition/Wellness
Jason Rowe-STEAM/Literacy Coordinator
Betsy Nxon-Development Coordinator

Week 2: return of some beloved volunteers, visits from old friends, making more new friends! The school year is up and r...
08/21/2026

Week 2: return of some beloved volunteers, visits from old friends, making more new friends! The school year is up and running and so are we!!!

A message from Danny Britton: I don’t have the words to fully capture what these 19 years have meant to me. Thank you so...
08/18/2026

A message from Danny Britton: I don’t have the words to fully capture what these 19 years have meant to me. Thank you so much for the incredible send-off and for celebrating me the way you did — I was overwhelmed (in the best way) by the love in that room.

The West End Center isn’t just where I worked, it’s where I grew up as a leader and as a person. I’ve had the privilege of watching so many kids come through our doors, and I’ve been shaped just as much by them as I hope I shaped them. To the staff, families, and volunteers who made this place what it is — thank you for trusting me, for pushing me, and for making this the honor of my career.

This isn’t goodbye to the relationships, just goodbye to the commute. WEC will always be a part of me, and I’ll be cheering this program on from Wilmington. Thank you, thank you, thank you.💙

Thank you all for dropping by to say goodbye to Mr. Danny yesterday! The rain and the lightning couldn’t stop the fun! B...
08/15/2026

Thank you all for dropping by to say goodbye to Mr. Danny yesterday! The rain and the lightning couldn’t stop the fun! Big thank yous to the Board of Directors and especially Susan Kessler and her grilling husband Reif for all the time and effort you put in to make yesterday special! There will be more to say in the next few days but if a picture paints a thousand words, let these speak to you from all of us!

After 19 incredible years, our beloved Danny Britton is leaving West End Center to begin an exciting new chapter — one t...
08/11/2026

After 19 incredible years, our beloved Danny Britton is leaving West End Center to begin an exciting new chapter — one that includes an amazing employment opportunity and his longtime dream of living at the beach! 🌊

Danny has been so much more than a familiar face at West End. He has cheered on our kids, wiped away tears, shot hoops, thrown footballs, helped with homework, and built relationships with generations of West End students and families. He truly is part of the heart of West End, and he will be missed more than words can say.

But Danny’s favorite part of West End has always been the kids and families, so he asked that we celebrate together!

đź“… Friday, August 14
⏰ Beginning at 4:30 p.m.
đź“Ť West End Center

Join us for a cookout as we say thank you, congratulations, and see you soon to Danny! ❤️We are heartbroken to see him go, but SO excited for what’s ahead. Congratulations, Danny! We love you and will miss you! 🌊💙

08/01/2026

We are dancing our way into a week of cleaning and training to prepare for School Year 26-27!

Last Day of Summer Program! It’s been a short but eventful summer! See everyone Aug. 11 for the first day of school! So ...
07/31/2026

Last Day of Summer Program! It’s been a short but eventful summer! See everyone Aug. 11 for the first day of school! So many thank yous! Big thanks to our staff, partners, volunteers, donors and our amazing kids! Just to name a few: Carilion Clinic, Family Service of Roanoke Valley, Crunch Fitness, The Wild Way, Roanoke Sheriff's Office,RunAbout Sports Roanoke, The Grandin Theatre, Roanoke Co+op, Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, SeekingWellnessCS, Healing Strides, Virginia Western Community College, Roanoke Police Department - VA, Roanoke City Public Schools, Apple Ridge Farm, Press Press Merch, Blackdog Salvage Roanoke VA,!

Last Day of the next to last week. We tired! This week we has students at Apple Ridge Farm, Lick Run for Farm Camp 2026,...
07/24/2026

Last Day of the next to last week. We tired! This week we has students at Apple Ridge Farm, Lick Run for Farm Camp 2026, 5 Star Leadership, Crunch Fitness, Washington Park Pool and Fallon Park Pool. Our oldest went to the roller skating rink. It was school supply week and we hosted a kids farmers market from Feeding Southwest Virginia-whew! Family Service of Roanoke Valley and their wonderful Youth Development team provided fun and educational activities and of course the learning continued led by Mr. Jason. Thanks to all of the above plus Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, West End Presbyterian Church, Allstate, Kaprice Watkins, Karen Tabotabo, Susan Kessler, Stephanie Polumbo Graham, Lee Stephenson and the many back to school donors! Last but not least, we were visited by our friends from Our Lady of Nazareth who donated enough to provide all our graduates and recent graduates scholarships to support their college studies! We are blessed and tired and sooo grateful!

West End was the pilot site for the Roanoke Sheriff's Office’s 5 Star Leadership Camp with our oldest students! It was a...
07/24/2026

West End was the pilot site for the Roanoke Sheriff's Office’s 5 Star Leadership Camp with our oldest students! It was a HUGE success! They covered resilience and teamwork’s communication and leadership, engaged in a fun community service activity and ended the week with a 1st Responder Career Fair and ice cream social! All the students got to join in today for ice cream, fire truck and emergency vehicle (ambulance) touring. One of our young ones said it was “the best Friday ever!” And we agree! Thank you to Sheriff Hash, Board member Brandi Lazari, Officer Hodge, all the sheriff’s team, and the Fire Department for their commitment to West End Center! We 💙you!

SO MUCH FUN!!! Alex and her crew are the best! Huge thanks!
07/20/2026

SO MUCH FUN!!! Alex and her crew are the best! Huge thanks!

This was left at the Community Dinner at LEAP this past week. If it’s yours, drop in LEAP!
07/18/2026

This was left at the Community Dinner at LEAP this past week. If it’s yours, drop in LEAP!

Address

1226 & 1223 Patterson Avenue SW
Roanoke, VA
24016

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

+15403420902

Website

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