Indianapolis youth program trying to recover from fire

An Indianapolis program that targets teenagers who might otherwise be on the streets needs help, after a fire ripped through its main headquarters.

The Wooden Youth Empowerment Foundation was started a few years ago by Leon Wooden. Wooden wanted to give teenagers a way to stay off the streets and set themselves up for a career.

The program takes donated appliances, repairs them and resells them to make a profit. It also employs teenagers to make appliance repairs, teaching them job trade skills in the process.

"I know a lot of the inner city teenagers are not going to come in and volunteer (on their own), so I created a way to produce income for them so they can actually get paid for working here in the program," Wooden said.

Last week, a fire destroyed most of the program's main headquarters on 31st street. The fire took out multiple computers, nearly all of the records and a number of areas that gave kids a safe haven to hang out in.

"It hurts me ... really, really bad that I cannot keep providing the youngsters in need the ... job skills that we usually provide," Wooden said.

Luckily, many of the donated appliances used to fund the program were spared. Wooden is helping that hope from the community will allow him to rebuild and continue to employ kids that might otherwise get into trouble.

"I'm going to do everything in my power, (even) if I have to use my last dime to put it back together," Wooden said.

If you'd like to help out, call the Wooden Youth Empowerment Foundation at 317-924-3238. You can also donate to the non-profit group through Chase bank.