Toddler movement pilot demonstrates community-led approach for programming at NECC

MILLERTON — The North East Community Center is a great place to get the wiggles out.

That’s the consensus from a room full of bouncing toddlers at the final weekly “Toddler Movement” class at the NECC office on South Center Street on Sunday, Oct. 11. The six-week dance lesson program was a pilot spearheaded by Millerton parent Kim Yarnell to provide some much desired social time outside the house.

The pilot is part of a broader shift at the organization, said Youth Programs Director Brandon Wolfe, as staffers seek new ways to engage the community in addition to NECC’s regular services. Part of that shift is welcoming ideas and efforts from community members, friends and volunteers that get people together.

The Toddler Movement class came from this line of thought, and from the community that remained following the closure of NECC’s early childcare program in December 2025. Yarnell was one of the parents with children enrolled in daycare at the facility. She said her and other parents were eager to find creative ways to allow gathering as a community.

“We don’t have our sort of third shared space to bring our kids to blow off some steam,” Yarnell said, mentioning the recent closure of local indoor playground business Kids Time in February.

The hope, Yarnell said, is to continue building similar programs leveraging Millerton’s community of parents.

Wolfe echoed that sentiment, saying NECC staffers have been making efforts to solicit ideas from community members and friends. The efforts have resulted in a few new events this year — most billed as “pilot” programs — that have drawn people into the NECC office and the weekly farmer’s market on Saturdays.

“We want to have more conversations with the community and then to create community,” Wolfe said. “The way you do that is by inviting people into the conversation.”

One example Wolfe surfaced was a badminton tournament on Saturday, Oct. 10. Four teams of two players each competed in a tournament during the farmer’s market on Saturday morning.

The tournament was the brainchild of a Webutuck student that took an internship with NECC’s food pantry over the summer. Leading into the fall and the new school year, the intern requrested badminton in the fall, prompting Wolfe to make it happen.

Their ears are open, Wolfe said, to community members that want to suggest ideas for community gathering.

“We’re a community center,” Wolfe said. “At the end of the day, in order to really have that word be a part of who we are, we need people to reach out.”

Kim Yarnell supplies all the young dancers with gold star trophies to mark their completion of the six-week pilot program at NECC on Sunday, Oct. 11.Photo by Nathan Miller