2023 Program Hours:

• Young Mom’s:  Every Tuesday evening from 6:00pm – 8:00pm, 333 King St. Upstairs Lounge
• Young Dad’s:  Every other Monday evening from 6:00pm – 8:00pm, 333 King St. (Atrium)

For questions about Young Parents programming and to find other ways to get involved, please email us at the address above!

Engage and encourage, equip and empower – how we live out our mission statement

Engage: meeting young parents where they are at; supporting them through physical resources; providing a safe space for them to interact with caring, supportive adults; sharing the love of Jesus in simple ways; starting the process of helping them build a supportive community around them.

Encourage: being a positive role model and speaking into young parents and families based on their strengths; building on that foundation for them to find strength to grow as a person and a parent; walking with them on their journey so they know they are not alone; sharing the hope of Jesus in simple ways; continuing to build a supportive community around them.

Equip: supporting through physical resources; provide opportunities for learning lifeskills; parenting classes; personal and group mentoring to walk through life’s challenges and grow from them, learning healthy resilience; sharing the truth of Jesus; continuing to build a supportive community with them.

Empower: building on their strengths; supporting them as they grow and develop both as parents and individuals, learning to weather life’s storms with resilience and strength; choosing their own paths for their family’s success in life; sharing the strength of Jesus; continuing to build a supportive community with them; helping them to understand they can be a transformative presence in their own families and communities.

VISION STATEMENT:

Embracing the inherent value and potential of young parents and families, we seek to build a safe, engaging and transformative community. We believe that caring, supportive relationships are key to developing resilience and strong families, and so we commit to walking with them on their journey.

MISSION STATEMENT:

We know that young parents have incredible potential, but often fall through the cracks of society for various reasons. We want to provide a place where they know they are seen, known and valued; a place where they can build community with other young families and trustworthy adults who will support them on their journey.

Being a teenager can be hard, being a parent is also hard; being both at the same time puts you in a situation that can seem impossible. We want to be a place of safety for young parents who are figuring it out, where they can process this huge change while being cared for and supported. We seek to engage with them and build supportive relationships, encouraging them to grow in confidence and skills as a person and a parent, building up their own young family. We believe that we all grow as we live in community, making space for each other to be seen, known and valued, a place to belong.

We also believe that true and lasting change happens through the transformative presence of Jesus in our lives. This is the basis of “why we do what we do”; and, knowing the hope and healing presence of Jesus in our own lives, we invite young families to pursue their own faith journey. This is always an invitation, not a requirement, as we are all on our own journeys and God will meet each one of us where we are at, when we are ready to encounter him.