BOSTON -- A Dorchester community center that serves the poor and disadvantaged was struck by thieves on Monday night.

"For someone to break into the building and steal from the building is essentially stealing from the community," Ella J. Baker House Executive Director Kevin Peterson said.

The Baker House is a non-profit that has been providing services to high-risk youth and their families in the Four Corners section of Boston since 1988. It's role is to help troubled teens avoid violence, achieve literacy and find jobs.

Whoever burglarized the Ella J. Baker House late Monday night or early Tuesday morning stole $20,000 worth of equipment, including 65-inch flat screen TV that hung from the wall, state-of-the -art video equipment and computers that were freely available for Dorchester's underprivileged young people.

"They're stealing from everybody. They're stealing from themselves. Because the stuff is here for people to use. There's no point in taking it when it's here for you to use whenever you want," said Orrin Simmons, of Dorchester.

"It's a very open place. A lot of people use the Baker House. All kinds of folks come in and out of the Baker House by design. That's our intent, and we will continue to operate in that manner. So it is very well somebody who could have been here for services or here for meeting who had some involvement in this. It's possible. We don't know," said Mark Scott, chairman of the board.

Police said that the alarm system was off because of renovations after arson in May 2008 that is still unsolved. Because of the open-door nature of the building, police said dusting for fingerprints would be of little use.

"We're less concerned about who did the crime than we are about how we're going to continue providing services," Peterson said.

There is some insurance, but it won't cover all of the losses.