The Swift Current Community Youth Initiative is driven by a passion to address the needs of youth today.

The group operates The Center, and for the past five years, the downtown location has served as a fun and safe venue for the youth within the community.

A new development at the Center is called Center Perk, a coffee shop that's open to all youth and public. Executive Director, Jim Magee says Center Perk provides much-needed job experience for young people.

"There were kids who were frustrated because they didn't have anything on their resume and it's hard to get a job. So, we wanted to help them gain a bit of confidence, a little bit of knowledge. And the other reason is we don't allow kids to bring product into The Center. We just wanted to make sure there was nothing else in it, so having this [coffee shop] gives them another option," he said.

The jobs are paid positions and function within the after-school and weekend drop-in hours of The Center. Some of the items on the menu include coffee, smoothies and other special treats.