Growing up in Aurora, Ady Rubio always wished she had a safe space where she could develop leadership skills or explore interests or meet teens from other schools.
Those opportunities have been available the last several years through the Alive Center in Naperville, where Rubio served as an intern in 2016. In her first year of Aurora University’s master of social work program at the time, she immediately felt drawn to the nonprofit’s mission of empowering teens and helping them find a sense of belonging.
“I loved everything about it,” Rubio said. “I knew we needed something like that in my hometown.”
Now a licensed social worker, she is leading the charge to open a new satellite site, called Alive @ Community, within the Community Christian Church in downtown Aurora. Subject to COVID-19 restrictions, the space will offer free after-school…
