The Skeels-Mathews Community Center serves all ages, with a special focus on youth and seniors. The center offers a variety of community programs, including weekly congregate meals every Wednesday and Friday, activities for seniors, adult nutrition classes, and holiday dinners and special events.
Skeels-Mathews also provides a safe place for youth to go after school and during summer break where they can receive after-school tutoring, educational programming, and free meals for breakfast, lunch, and a snack. A mentoring group for youth is also offered.
In the mid-1960s, Deseree Liddell, Vernon L. Mathews, and local residents founded the Skeels Improvement Corporation to strengthen their neighborhood. By 1968, the Skeels-Mathews Community Center opened its first permanent location on Arbeco Street with support from the Portage County Community Action Council. The Center moved to its current home on Skeels Street in 1980. When funding was later cut, Deseree continued running the Center for three years without pay, while residents held monthly fundraisers to keep the doors open. Support from United Way of Portage County began in 1983 and continues today. Thanks to Community Development Block Grant funding, the Center was rebuilt and expanded in 2000, adding a kitchen, clothing room, computer lab, offices, a food pantry, and a children’s room named in Deseree’s honor. Her daughter, Sharon Sanders, began volunteering in 1980 and now serves as director.
Today, the Skeels-Mathews Community Center remains a trusted hub of hope—serving children, teens, and older adults through programs powered by volunteers, partnerships, and a commitment to helping young people grow and thrive.
