YoungLives' vision is to reach teen moms by entering their world, modeling the unconditional love of Christ, and encouraging them to become the women and mothers God created them to be.  Through one-on-one mentoring, monthly large-group get togethers, bible study, and camp, teen moms are empowered to make positive choices, set and achieve goals, and live a future rooted in Christ.

Teen moms come into the program through direct contact with local schools, referrals from school counselors, community agencies, and word-of-mouth. Over 80% of the girls in the YoungLives program have suffered from sexual and/or physical abuse and approximately 10% of the teens in the YoungLives program nationally are homeless!  Even here in our beautiful community we have homeless teen moms!

YoungLives sees an average of 50 teen moms a month. The ministry impacts these teen moms in two important ways. First, individually, any teen mom who desires is paired up with a mentor. That relationship involves a personal commitment to support that teen mom emotionally, spiritually, and instructionally. The mentoring process involves time, accountability, encouragement, and support for girls who are often overlooked and underserved. Secondly, YoungLives impacts teen moms collectively. Currently, there are weekly lunch meetings at three local schools, with the possibility of extending that to several other schools in the area. They also meet together monthly with all the teen moms, their babies and the mentors where YoungLives provides meals, social interaction, and a program. The programs involve areas of parenting, life skills, baby & child growth and development, and an aspect of spirituality.

Something that is unique to Young Life/YoungLives is that they provide a week-long camp experience for mentors, teen moms AND their babies, to interact and experience a relational and positive community. It takes the involvement of between 40-50 volunteers, each month, to make this program happen.

This money raised would help teen moms and their babies go to camp at Timberwolf Lake. It is an incredible opportunity for them that is often life changing and one that they would otherwise never get a chance to do!

Check out some of the photos from previous YoungLives camps at Timberwolf Lake: