After years of providing afterschool activities and counseling to Hicksville's young people in an undersized building, the Hicksville Youth Council moved into a new building at 79 Old Country Road late last month.

The new HYC is located about 1/4 mile east of the old building and has provided the children and the staff with some much-needed space.

"There is a much larger lounge area for the kids." said Thomas Bruno, executive director, Hicksville Youth Council. "It is all on one floor now, where we used to have things all over the house."

A large screen TV that had been donated to the council two years ago by the Hicksville Fire Department had to be kept in storage because it was too big for the old building. Now the television is centered in the spacious lounge for everyone to use.

"We could probably accommodate the same number of kids. What is going to happen now is, where before the kids would leave because there was nothing to do, now they can stay."

He said many of the youths that would come to the center, would often leave after only staying for a short time because it was too crowded. On an afternoon with 30-40 kids in the building there would literally be nowhere for anyone to sit or to play a game. The new building allows the HYC to offer more to the kids. Bruno said that he is working on setting up a computer room where children could be tutored or work on projects.

The additional space is not just a plus for the kids, but also for the staff that works at the HYC. Bruno indicated that on a crowded afternoon it would become almost impossible to get any work done such as counseling.

"It used to be very disruptive because once the kids came in there was very little room to get anything done," said Bruno. "The office space is now upstairs and the kids are downstairs. It is just more workable now."

Although the building was a much better fit than the previous address, the HYC's new home still needed a lot of work before they could move in. According to Bruno, they worked for two weeks getting the place ready; repaneling the entire downstairs, painting walls and putting in doors. Home Depot donated materials and labor to segregate the two upstairs rooms into four small offices. Two of the offices will be used by Bruno and the administrative staff, and the other two will be used as counseling rooms.

"We are still trying to get the offices upstairs finished up," said Bruno. "It was not exactly perfect when we moved in."

The HYC's latest fund raiser was a major factor in making the move possible, as were the many other smaller fund raisers throughout the year. Although money was a major issue for the HYC, so, too, was finding a location that was centrally located, where it would be accessible to as many kids as possible.

"The biggest problem that we had was finding a place that was centrally located; that was probably our main stumbling block," said Bruno. "We wanted a place that was accessible to the schools so the kids would have the ability to get here after school."

Many of the kids who have been coming to the center over the summer were impressed with their new environs, and Bruno is sure that the kids coming back when the school year starts will be equally impressed. "I am sure they are going to be very impressed with it because it is just so much nicer, so much brighter. Rather than being stuck in a hot dingy basement now they are on the main floor with a lot of windows."

The HYC is still working on the building, and Bruno said that their new neighbors have been very giving. A stereo system was left on the doorstep one afternoon and two sega video systems were also donated since the move. With the extra space comes the need to fill it. The HYC is looking for donations of furniture, such as chairs, tables and couches.

"It has been a real motivational piece for the staff," said Bruno. "They [staff and kids] feel rejuvenated and everyone has a real positive feeling about this place."