Greatest Person: Jane Becker is Still Giving Her All to Local Teens

As a retired schoolteacher, Jane Becker wanted to continue to work with young people.

She had also observed that teenagers in and around Chestnut Hill needed somewhere to go and something to do to keep them out of trouble.

“Young people are the future, and if we don’t do it, who is going to do it?” Becker asked.

And so, Teens, Inc. was created, with the backing of an anonymous benefactor who lends the use of a building to the organization. The Teens Center gives teens a place to gather on Friday nights, where they can play games and eat pizza and watch movies, with adult supervisors on hand.

Not only does the nonprofit organization give teens a place to go on Friday nights, it also organizes dances and ski trips and volunteer opportunities for its members.

“I feel badly for the teenagers. They weren’t doing bad things; we all did similar things at that age, although we don’t like to admit it. But, they didn’t have anything instructive to do,” Becker said.

Since the founding of Teens, Inc.,15 years ago, many of the members have come back and served on the organization’s adult board. Many of the teens going into the program are also former students of Becker’s, so she gets to be a part of their lives from childhood into adulthood.

“My life has gone around and come full circle,” Becker said.

Now in her 80s, Jane is limited by mobility after a leg injury two years ago, but still does what she can: tutoring, making phone calls on the organization’s behalf, and giving money when she can.

And while founding Teens, Inc. may be Becker’s legacy in Chestnut Hill, she refuses to take all of the credit. Marianne Dwyer, who Becker calls “a wonder,” helped found the organization, and is the executive director now. Becker’s late husband, Dick, also helped start Teens, Inc.

But it was Jane who was honored in November at a Teens, Inc. fundraiser, for starting the organization, and staying so close for the past 15 years.

“Jane is still on the board at this time,” Dwyer said. “Jane is 80 now, and in her 70s, she and her husband both were still chaperoning dances and nature walks. They wanted to be with young people, and their work just took off.”