A Home for Possibility
A Place to Grow-Rooted in Community. Built for Youth.
The Community Education Building’s Youth Development Center (YDC) is the newest addition to CEB’s campus and ecosystem, an investment in the heart of Wilmington, building a future where every child thrives.
Invest in the ydc today
a home for joy, well-being, and learning
The 42,000-square-foot Youth Development Center brings together smart classrooms, a black box theater/performance arts space, a full gymnasium, fitness room, and a youth lounge—alongside the YMCA’s Early Learning Academy—to support learning, creativity, wellness, and community programming across all ages.
Alijah Congo, High School Student
"I would like more leadership opportunities. After school electives would be better because we don't have a lot to do after school."
A home where every child thrives, cradle-to-career
The Youth Development Center (YDC) anchors the school day with a vibrant space for movement, fitness, and recreation — and extends CEB’s cradle-to-career model beyond school hours, because learning gaps, social pressures, and unmet needs don’t end at 3:00 PM.
Its purpose is to ensure young people have:
- A safe, structured place for sports, fitness, arts, and recreation during and after school
- Mentorship, life skills, and exposure to career pathways
- Access to wellness resources, social services, and trusted adults
- A positive environment that reduces risk and increases opportunity
By design, the YDC closes opportunity gaps during the most vulnerable hours of the day.
BE A PART OF THE YDC
Essential to CEB’s one of a kind cradle-to-career ecosystem, the YDC reflects a shared commitment to ensuring every child in Wilmington has the opportunity to thrive.
Powered by a distinguished network of resident partners, CEB builds on local strengths to advance pathways for young people from strong beginnings to limitless potential for themselves and for Wilmington. The YDC expands CEB’s existing network of trusted partners, schools, families, youth, and local organizations to support children from their earliest years through adulthood.
As the anchor resident partner at the YDC, the YMCA of Delaware plays a vital role in the YDC and the CEB ecosystem, grounding the Center’s work in early childhood development and family well-being. The YMCA Early Learning Academy at the YDC will offer a welcoming first step for children and families—providing high-quality early education for up to 100 children, from infancy through pre-K.
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College &
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Adult &
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Kuumba Academy Charter School | Great Oaks Charter School of Wilmington | High Road School of Delaware | University of Delaware Associate in Arts Program (AAP) | Delaware Guidance Services | STRIVE | Delaware Institute for Arts in Education (DiAE) | Network Connect | Delaware Health Empowerment Coalition (DHEC) | YMCA of Delaware | WRK Group
Where Opportunity takes shape, Thanks to You
Campaign Committee Members
Thère du Pont
Eli Sharp
Charlie Copeland
Jim Kelly
Fred Sears
Linda Jennings
Paul McConnell
Campaign Donors
Anthony & Catherine Fusco Charitable Foundation•Carol A. Ammon Fund•Chichester duPont Foundation•City of Wilmington•CSC Station•Darla Pomeroy and Thère du Pont•DuPont•Joe Schell•Linda and Luther Jennings•Longwood Foundation•M&T Bank•Maureen and Michael Rhodes•Michelle & David Shepherd•Mr. and Mrs. Eli R. Sharp•Nyssa Foundation•Paul M. McConnell•Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester•Sally Gore•Saul Ewing LLP•Senator Chris Coons•State of Delaware•The Abramczyk Family•The Sykora Family Charitable Foundation•Welfare Foundation, Inc.•WSFS Bank
Kuumba Academy Teacher
“First hand I've seen the CEB serve as a turnkey solution for the whole child... I don't feel like I work in a building of various organizations as much as I feel I'm beginning to thrive in a building full of partnerships.”
Building a Stronger Wilmington
The Center is a hub for empowering Wilmington’s future leaders, today.
Wilmington is rich in history and community pride, yet within the city there are deep pockets of under-resourced neighborhoods where children and families have long faced concentrated barriers: gaps in educational opportunity, limited access to health and social services, housing instability, and fewer pathways to economic mobility.
CEB was created in direct response to those realities.
CEB’s founders understood a simple truth: if we want different outcomes for children, we must change the conditions around them — not with a single program, but with an integrated ecosystem that brings education, family supports, and community resources together under one roof. The Youth Development Center extends that model beyond the building and into the community.