How Montreal teens created an arcade and are helping to build a community

The kids are getting antsy.

It's nearly 4 p.m. on a Saturday. The Press Start Arcade opens in a couple of minutes.

When it does, the group most of thembetween the ages of eight and 12 isunleashed into a room filled withvideo and arcade games.

Some of the kids'parents head downstairs to the main level of Point-Saint-Charles's Btiment 7 to grab a beer or a coffee in the cafwhile their kids play.

At the door of the arcade, 16-year-old Samara Allison collects the $5entrance fee, then heads over to help some of the younger kids turn on the consoles and television sets.

She's still in high school, but she is one of the people runningthe place.

The arcade is built for kids,by kids. It was conceived by a group of Montreal teenagers who brought their idea to life over the course of three years.

Samara and herco-workers, ImaneTidli, Shane Keith, Samuel Thriault,Cianna ThompsonandLewis Max Eberand, are all in high school.

"It's not like somebody else did it for us:we did it for ourselves. We did it for the community," said Samara.

They were hired after community consultationfound that teens in the Pointe needed jobs that empowered themand taught them transferable leadership skills.

The consultation process was launched by Saint Columba House, a community-based social justice group based in the working-class neighbourhood with a history there that dates back to the Great Depression.

Samara didn't know any of that when she applied for a job at Press Start. She thought she'd be up forwork as a cashier.

It wasn't until she was hired that she learned she would be creating, opening and then running a neighbourhood arcade.

She and the other five teenagers, along with adult co-ordinators Akki MacKay and Michelle Duchesneau, started by doing market research and raising funds to get the arcade off the ground.

They crowdsourced the first $10,000 and solicited donations from foundations. They built wooden cabinets reminiscent of old-style arcade games, finally opening the doors of Press Start onMay 4, 2018.

"It's a very powerful project," said Duchesneau, who volunteers her time with the project.

"Seeing young people run it and make decisions, really feeling like it's their project it keeps me motivated and inspired."

For their $5 entrance fee, customers can then play whatever games they like, for as long as they like. They can also volunteer their time at the arcade in lieu of paying to get in.

More than an after-school gig

Samarasays Press Start has changed her life. Not only does she havea job, she's become friends with her five co-workers and learned valuable business skills.

"I feel this project helps teenagers feel like, yeah, someone's really listening to us, and dreams can come true."

She came to the gig with some job experience. She runs a small business out of her home braiding hair and doing makeup.

But after working at Press Start, she's changed her mind about what she wants to do after high school. Before, she planned to go to hairdressing school. Now, she wants to do business management.

Duchesneausays she's watched all of the teens who run the co-op grow. At the beginning, they asked adults for reassurance before making business decisions.

Now, they're challenging the adults.

"We'll propose one thing, and they'll tell us they disagree with it," said Duchesneau.

"We say, 'Do more of that!'"

Social justice message

In addition to running the arcade, Press Start hosts anti-racism and up-cycling events.

Last Saturday, they held a two-hour crafting session, where children took scraps of old leather and turned them into key chains, bracelets even a bejewelled tiara.

Before the kidsstarted their projects, theirfacilitators talked to them about the importance of reusing materials instead of just throwing them out, whenever possible.

Duchesneausaid that's part of the goal of the social enterprise to create a spaceto talk about social issues in addition to running the arcade.

All events hosted by Press Start are free to the public. The arcade is open after school and on weekends.

Samara Allison describes why the Press Start Arcade is special

6 years ago

Duration 0:26

The Press Start Arcade is run by a group of teenagers, including 16-year-old Samara Allison.