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"During the early 1990s, gangs and youth violence were prevalent in southeast Fort Wayne. Teen-ager Euell Wilson lived in such a neighborhood, but he never got involved with gangs. He was too busy being a star athlete at Bishop Dwenger High School and preparing to attend Indiana University on a full football scholarship.
Inexplicably, Euell died in his sleep from Adult SIDS. More than 1,300 friends, family and sports acquaintances attended his funeral. Soon after, friends started asking Shirley Woods, Euell's mother, "What can we do to keep Euell's memory here?"
"I kept thinking about the Bible verse that says, 'What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?' Given the problems in the neighborhood, I sensed the Lord saying, 'Shirley, do something for the youth,'" she said.
That "something" eventually evolved into the Euell A. Wilson Youth Center, a Christian-based community center on Oxford Street. Through the help of family, friends and community leaders, the center opened in 1993. For the past decade grants ... have enabled the Center to continue its important work of providing healthy recreational alternatives and positive programs for youth."
- quoted from "Charity Begins at Home"
Article written by Lynette Bleed in Fort Wayne magazine
November/December 2005 issue
YOUTH WHO DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ANY SUPERVISED
AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ARE:
- 57% more likely to drop out by the time they are seniors
- 49% more likely to use drugs
- 37% more likely to become teen parents
- 35% more likely to smoke cigarettes
- 27% more likely to be arrested
Published: July 20, 2007 6:00 a.m.
Kings' daughter urges love, faith
By Allie Townsend
The Journal Gazette
Fourteen years ago, Shirley Woods had no idea that the neighborhood project in her backyard would be the reason the daughter of two of the nation’s most famous civil rights activists would be in Fort Wayne.
Woods called Thursday a milestone not only for herself but also for the Euell A. Wilson Center as guests welcomed Bernice King, daughter of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr., to the center’s first benefit.
The banquet room of Memorial Coliseum was packed with anxious attendees. more>>
Janelle Sou Roberts/The Journal Gazette
Lashe Hill, 7, dances with the Euell A. Wilson Center praise dancers at the center’s banquet Thursday at Memorial Coliseum.
 Fifteen years ago, Shirley Woods, the mother of Euell A. Wilson, who was an outstanding athlete and graduate of Bishop Dwenger High School, received a visit she will vividly remember forever. more>>
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Contact Us
Euell A. Wilson Center, Inc.
1512 Oxford Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46806, U.S.A.
Phone: 260-456-2917
Fax: 260-456-2917
weawc@aol.com
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"During the early 1990s, gangs and youth violence were prevalent in southeast Fort Wayne. Teen-ager Euell Wilson lived in such a neighborhood, but he never got involved with gangs. He was too busy being a star athlete at Bishop Dwenger High School and preparing to attend Indiana University on a full football scholarship.
