“Those who need it most”: Youth and young adult oriented open mic finds new leadership, moving forward with original vision

WASILLA — There’s a cozy little cafe near Nunley Park in downtown Wasilla called the Gathering Grounds Cafe.

During the first Friday of every month, the Spot provides an open mic venue for youth and young adults (25 and under) to share their voice, however it comes out. That’s exactly what happened Friday, January 3.

“It’s not just music… It’s whatever you need it to be,” The Spot regular and Gathering Grounds employee Aria Phillips said.

The Gathering Grounds Cafe and neighboring Streamdriven Boutique are blanketed under MyHouse, the Valley’s homeless youth shelter and assistance program.

The cafe and boutique is also the main office and base of operations for MyHouse, so there’s always staff and volunteers onsite ready to connect with local youth in need, even if it’s just a simple chat.

Phillips discovered the Spot around the same time she needed MyHouse’s services.

She was facing homelessness and going through a lot. She said MyHouse helped her "fight through the dark times.”

“They let me in,” Phillips said.

Phillips utilized their shelter and quickly got to work through their internships and volunteer programs. MyHouse clients are required to follow various steps to prove they are trying to take responsibility and move forward with their lives, doing things like proving they’ve applied for jobs.

Phillips said the MyHouse staff realized quickly she was invested and have been a huge help since he contacted them in October.

“Things have been getting better,” Phillips said.

Phillips is 20 years old. She said The Spot has been very therapeutic for her and thinks the venue is offering a very important service to the community.

“I would love to see more youth do something with the open mic. That’s why it’s here. That’s why all of this is here. Everything about MyHouse, Gathering Grounds… It’s all about the youth,” Phillips said.

Phillips said it’s an ideal atmosphere for youth because it’s a judgment-free atmosphere where people can get used to the stage and work out their material.

As for Phillips, working on her material has helped her work out her life. You can see her come to life as she sings and strums her guitar— bouncing from original songs, Queen covers, dark songs, happy songs, the works— and she’s smiling the entire time.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Phillips said. “It helps build your confidence in general.”

Phillips’ growth on the stage is exactly the kind of thing The Spot founder Michael Consalo created this safe space for two years ago.

The Spot aims to be the first of its kind; the first substance-free music venue for the young, emerging community of young musicians in the area. It’s meant to be safe place for young people to self express or listen to their peers in sober environment.

Consalo is focusing his efforts on his business Michael C Marketing and passed the mantle onto local musician Phil Gilcrease.

“I don’t feel like there could be a better person at this point,” Consalo said.

Consalo said he couldn’t have done it without his passionate team and local supports like MyHouse and the Mat-Su Health Foundation. He said he plans to keep helping out and he has complete confidence in Gilcrease.

“As long as he surrounds himself with good people like I did… I know it’ll continue to have success and shouldn’t have any problems,” Consalo said.

Gilcrease wants the Spot and the Gathering Grounds in general to be a safe hub for local youth to access when they need it, be it as a regular place to hang out after school or place to wait to catch a ride. Most importantly, he hopes it reaches “those who need it most.”

“They need a place not only to work on their craft but make art around other people who are making art,” Gilcrease said.

Gilcrease said that he’s invested in this new chapter of his life and wants to do the best he can to carry Consalo’s vision forward.

“He built it out of the ground,” Gilcrease said. “A big part of me doing this is doing the right thing for the community.”

The Spot runs the first Friday of every month from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Gathering Grounds Cafe, located at 300 Willow Street, Wasilla.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com