Omega recently hosted tweens and teens from two Hudson Valley organizations, Mill Street Loft and the North East Community Center (NECC), to explore campus and some quintessential Omega offerings. 

Tweens who visited from Mill Street Loft, based in the City of Poughkeepsie, were part of an outreach program that addresses issues for at-risk girls, providing learning and life skills and fostering self-esteem and personal empowerment.

The tweens took a tour of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL), enjoyed lunch at the dining hall, took a movement class, and interviewed Robert Turner, executive chef at Omega FoodWorks about the food served at Omega. 

“It's hard to explain what Omega is to 10- and 11-year-olds, but at Omega they felt so at ease,” said Michelle De la Cruz, director of Latino Programming at Mill Street Loft. “Just the experience of getting out of their environment, out in the country, and walking around was fantastic for them. They loved the self-sustainability project [OCSL]. They had a million and one questions about how the plants clean the water, and on the van ride home, they were explaining it to each other. One of the girls asked why they're not doing this in every city. They wanted to know how the water is cleaned in the city. They had never thought about it before.” 

Teens from the NECC's Teen Team Youth Leadership Program also enjoyed lunch at Omega and time with chef Bob, explored campus and the lake, and took an introductory yoga and meditation class.

“We all really enjoyed our trip to Omega, it was amazing,” said Sara Campbell NECC Teen Program Coordinator. “The teens couldn't stop talking about it all the way home.”