ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) – The TLC Center in Elizabethton is setting its sights on expanding its reach to teenagers in Carter County. The center is planning to acquire land located directly behind its current facility to achieve this goal.

Currently, the TLC Center plays a vital role in the Carter County community by providing essential family resources such as food, clothing, and counseling services.

Although the center offers toys and activities tailored for younger children, founder and director Angie Odom has recognized a gap in services specifically for teenagers. She is determined to address this need with the new expansion.

Reflecting on her own teenage years, Odom expressed a desire to provide the kind of support she felt was lacking during her youth.

“We had our church group, but there wasn’t really a dedicated place for us,” Odom shared. “In hindsight, having a space where you could find someone to talk to and engage in activities would have been invaluable during those times when life felt uncertain.”

With the aim of creating such a space, Odom is actively pursuing the acquisition of property adjacent to the existing TLC Center.

The property includes an 8,000-square-foot building she would rework into a safe space for teenagers to hang out.

Odom said what exactly will be featured in the teen center isn’t set in stone, but some ideas include arcade games, books and even a mini golf course. She’d also like to add blacktop to the property to create sports courts.

Odom added that she’d like to provide classes on basic life skills that teenagers may not learn in school.

“I hear the same things, and that is when we’re out volunteering, ”how do I do this?’ or ‘how do I do that?’” she said. “I realize how some of the basic life skills have slipped away, because we do have amazing technology now, but almost everything has gone to gaming technology, our phones, our computers, but they don’t know how to do some of our basic skills.”

The property costs about $230k, a sum Odom is hoping to raise through donations.

Mythea Manning, a teenager at the TLC Center, said teens often get a bad rap for causing trouble, but they aren’t offered a designated space to hang out and chat. A space at the TLC Center would fix that issue.

“I feel like a lot of people get on teenagers about going places and disrupting the area, but they don’t give us any other area to hang out,” she said. “If we had a place to hang out, then that would solve the issue.”

You can donate to the TLC Center here.