Snowshoeing, frozen toes, & Icy roads

A multitude of TRM teens embarked on a snowshoe trip that proved too difficult last week when attempting to reach a cabin near Mt. Rainier.




The original plan was to drive up to the trailhead, snowshoe roughly 4 miles to the cabin, relax, spend the nite, and hike back to the trailhead the next day and return safely to Tacoma. This original plan quickly changed when the impassable icy road proved unsafe. So, we decided to play it safe. This tacked on an extra 3 miles of hiking before even getting to the trailhead! So after a chilly 3 miles, we did what any group would do, we took a vote. I'll be honest, up to this point the hiking was slow, people's toes were frozen, and pants soaked through. The duffle bags, sleds, and sleeping bags were a disheveled mess dragging behind many of the youth. The result of the vote was to eventually turn around and go back to the van. Back to warm up and head home to the safe refuge of Tacoma. Although the plans changed, the kids took it in stride and maintained a positive attitude throughout it all!

A Servant's Heart

This past Monday, the Tacoma Rescue Mission held a graduation at Life Center Church for those who have completed the New Life Program and Family Life Program. It was a very exciting and inspiring event that not only allowed us to celebrate the accomplishments of those who have worked hard to transform their lives through these programs, but it also allowed us and the youth the opportunity to lend a helping hand and serve others. The teen leadership group, which typically meets every Monday night from 6 to 8 pm, attended the graduation this past week as servants. They dressed their best, and they represented the Tacoma Rescue Mission very well by holding open doors, greeting people as they walked in, and serving food during the reception that proceeded after the ceremony. And it wasn't easy! It was a challenge for the youth to serve the food--the line was long, with the end nowhere in sight, and the youth were hungry. It was tough for me too. It was my dinnertime, but I had to wait alongside the kids to eat only after everyone else, about 300 other people, ate first. I was impressed with them, though. They handed out food and filled everyone else's plates before serving themselves. They did an awesome job!
I hope that, through experiences like these, the teens are challenged and are given an opportunity to grow. Hopefully, from this sort of perspective, the youth can have a deeper appreciation for all of the help we get everyday at Tyler Square from our generous volunteers. It's not so easy to give your time away so freely, and we at the Youth Department are so blessed with a constant influx of volunteers.
Ultimately, I pray that we use Monday nights to coordinate a group of teens who come to understand leadership as a means of getting along with people instead of understanding leadership as how much power one has over other people, as Mohandas Gandhi once said. So it is our goal here to define leadership as an act of serving rather than dictating. And through this, the teens can be encouraged to go out and give back to their community in a positive way, in a way that is similar to how our volunteers give to us.

SuperClub at Tyler Square!

The moment Superclub catapulted into our community with carnival games, pizza, and tons of kids it has taken off here at Tyler Square. We are grateful to have the partnership with the Superclub family that comes every week and contributes life to our thriving community! Check out these videos of our kids having fun at SuperClub:

UPCOMING VOLUNTEER EVENTS...

Hi to all past, current, & present volunteers!
We work with kids that are hurting, have been homeless, and need help...
We could not serve the kids we serve without the help of faithful volunteers like you!
"without sacrifice, love is not complete", so I want to thank every volunteer who sacrifices greatly to love our kids!
We have 2 upcoming volunteer events that you should know about.
They are:
1) Tyler Square and New Life Square Graduation. Monday December 7th @ 7pm at Life Center Church. Come see families, men, & women whose lives have been transformed!
2) Volunteer Training/Orientation. Tuesday December 15th @6pm at Family Shelter (609 S 15th, Tacoma, WA 98405. A chance for volunteers to come, learn, and tell their story about volunteering!

Mission Trip Silent Auction!

As you've read below, the Tacoma Rescue Mission Youth are going on a mission trip to build a house in Mexico over spring break. We're all very excited about the trip and have been working hard to put our team together. We had our first training for the trip last Thursday and received our information binders filled with packing lists, documentation materials, requirements, safety tips, parent info, a few Spanish lessons, and much more. The students had many questions as the anticipation of the trip keeps growing. We learned that we will be staying in tents, are not allowed to use powertools to construct the house, and will have to survive the week without cells phones. There will continue to be many more trainings as our trip approaches. At the next meeting, each student will be presenting their research of a Mexican holiday to help us learn about the culture.

One event we will be discussing in the upcoming meetings is our silent auction on Feburary 5th. All of the proceeds from the silent auction will go towards the mission trip. Not only are the youth staff and students going on the trip working hard, but many volunteers are putting in a lot of time into planning this event. The silent auction will also have a live auction, raffles, live music provided by Urban Orchestra, and dinner! Check out the Facebook event for the auction on the Tacoma Rescue Mission Youth Program profile's wall posts. It's going to be tons of fun and we want to invite you to partner with us to make this event a success and helping to send us on our mission trip.

Currently, we are seeking donations for the event. If you have any items to donate or would like to help out with the auction please do! We need your ideas, talents, and heart. Maybe you could put together a theme basket for the event. A rainy day basket filled with movies, hot chocolate, and banana bread would be a fun basket for sure. Or what about a best friend basket with golf passes, a resturant gift certificate, and tickets to a ball game. Putting a theme basket together can be fun and use your creativity. Furthermore, we want you to attend the event. Tickets are $20 which include dinner for the event starting at 5:30 on Friday Feburary 5th. Please contact Kyle at kyles@trm.org for more information.

Literacy rocks!

This past Monday, the Tyler Square Afterschool Program had a Literacy Program Kick-Off party with the generous help of a group of Pi Beta Phi women from the University of Puget Sound. This Literacy Program that is being led by this group of young women is called Champions Are Readers (CAR), and it is a month-long program that strives to get kids reading at least 15 minutes every night. Hopefully, those 15 minutes can be spent with a parent or sibling--the program is geared towards involving the whole family, not just one child. In the end, we hope the children participating learn to enjoy the activity of reading, we hope they become more competent readers, and we hope parents and children learn how to spend time together in the act of reading.

Thankfully, our kick-off party was a huge success. With the help of the Pi Beta Phi girls, the children ate pizza and received new books to read for their minimum 15-minute reading goal each night. The children also received free workbooks that provided fun activities to go along with their reading, a race track that simulates their reading patterns (and through which the children can keep track of how much they are reading), and guidance for the children's parents in terms of how the parents can be involved with their youngsters' nightly reading.

The following day at the Afterschool Program, I was encouraged to see some workbooks out with race tracks that recorded 30 and 45 minutes of reading for the prior night. The kids were excited about reading!

With a program like this, I can see that the kids are enabled to achieve success. The kids aren't just given a set of expectations (Hey you! Become literate!). Instead, the kids are given a ladder to climb on and multiple sets of hands that are reaching out to help during the journey towards achievement. In the end, the children aren't just literate, but they hopefully have learned to love the act of reading and are capable of using reading to enrich the rest of their life. The kids can't achieve this on their own; with the right type of resources and support, though, they will be able to climb to the very top.

Do you believe that they can make it to the top? There are a lot of things in their lives pushing them down and holding them back, putting a heavy weight on their shoulders even before they take their first step. They can't do it alone. Can you help?

Our kids are champions, and we believe they deserve all the support that they can get!

Youth 2009 Mission trip

The Tacoma rescue mission staff believes that every teenager is capable of success, because we believe this we have partnered up with Amor ministers to lead are youth on a mission trip to Mexico to build a house. Our main purpose in leading this trip is to build up are youth and to help transform them into Godly leaders who understand the value of being a servant. We also feel privileged to be able to share God’s love with a Mexican family. Please feel free to check out more about Amor at amor.org. There are many ways that you can partner with us the first is through prayer. We need prayer that God Gives the leaders wisdom to lead this trip who he wants it. Also we need prayer for each student that will be going with us. You can also partner with use through helping out with our bake sale by baking some goodies or helping with our auction by adding some new auction items. We are very exited to see how God is going to work through this trip and are excited to partner up with Amor and with all of you.

Finding family during the holidays

Every time we attempt to engage the parents in a curiosity for their kids lives, great things happen. Our parents are incredible and they are working towards finding family at Tyler Square. The holidays are a great excuse to do this and Halloween 2009 at Tyler Square was no exception,
We had the following fun:
~Hay Rides
~Cake Walk
~Faith walk(kids leading their blindfolded parents through an obstacle course)
~bean bag toss
~disgustingly gross objects
~chili cook off
~crafts
We believe having family events is crucial in restoring every family back to health. Think back on a family memory from your youth...got one yet? If you do, I'm guessing it was at a party, holiday, gathering, or reunion of some kind. Now think if you never had that opportunity to find family or any opportunity? If you want to participate in the finding of family this year with us, there are many opportunities to do so...send us an email at either kristad@trm.org or briane@trm.org...they will help get involved!

Father/Son Football Game

This past weekend we had our first Father/Son event of the school year for the Tacoma Rescue Mission and given all of the great Washington state footballs teams, we had to see a game. The University of Puget Sound Loggers were playing the Whitworth Pirates here in Tacoma on Saturday which turned out to be a perfect host for our tailgate and football entertainment.
Saturday morning came with roaring thunder and unpredictable showers, which had me second guessing our plans, but the weather proved to just be teasing us as the rain let up just in time for us to fire up the grill for our tailgate. All the necessaries, burgers, hot dogs, and hot chocolate, were abundant as we all watched the two football teams, both trying their best to look intimidating, make their way to the field for the start of the game. Our tailgate was cut a little short because we didn’t want to miss the rest of the first quarter as the game started a little early. And believe it or not, the rain began to come down again as soon as we started packing up our equipment.
As all of us made our way into the stadium we found some front row seats still available! Although it was fall break for the home team the atmosphere was still exciting with loud cheers on the big plays. The score was close up until halftime but the Pirates proved to be too much for the Loggers in the second half. Despite the final score, the fellowship and conversations we had during the game was memorable.
Making our way out of the stadium there were a couple players that were able to chat with us after the game and the question everyone wanted to know was, “Have you ever been knocked out?” We all sized them up and concluded they could’ve used our help out on the gridiron. It was great for them to take the time to chat with all of us!
We wrapped up our adventure with some beverages and snacks at the student union as we waited for our ride. It was nice to warm up a bit inside exchanging stories after being outside so long in the weird, unavoidable fall weather. The Father/Son football game was a great time and thanks to everyone who participated!

Reaching New Heights Continued...

At the end of the last post, I left you "hanging" a little bit, an image that is all too appropriate when re-living the experience of repelling with the Tacoma Rescue Mission youth off of an 180-foot bridge. You might be wondering: did we all make it?
Some of the students were jumping at the chance to repel off of this bridge, even when they had never had any experience with repelling before. I was so impressed--some of these youth, more than ten years younger than me, were less scared than I was. In fact, they were excited! They anxiously waited their turn, and then crawled over the fence with a smile as they started to repel their way to the ground below.
At the same time, some students paced back and forth with nerves: bravery didn't come to all of us so easily. One elementary-aged girl named Amy, the youngest and smallest of the group, shook her head decisively. "No, I am NOT doing that!" she said. She would peak through the holes in the chain link fence, rethinking her decision, but again concluding, "Nope!" Eventually, as time passed, all the other students in the first group had repelled except for Amy. It was now her turn, if she was willing to take it. And at this point, she had seen all the other kids go down and make it to the bottom with grins plastered on their faces the entire time. She took a deep breath. "Okay," she said. "I'll do it."
Amy got strapped into her harness and connected to the ropes. With some help, she climbed over the fence. Then she took a look down. "Nevermind!" she said. "I changed my mind! I want to go back!" And so Amy was helped back over the fence onto the bridge. The experience was scary, and I didn't blame her. I still doubted whether I was going to go down or not too.
But a thought came to mind: maybe Amy and I could do it together. I wasn't sure if it was possible, but I asked Amy, "If we can repel together, would you be willing to go down?" She shook her head yes with no hesitation. I was excited that she trusted me enough to go down with me, and I was excited that she wouldn't miss out on an such an unforgettable experience. The peak 7 volunteers confirmed that they would be able to harness Amy and I together so that we could repel at the same time. We both smiled. Amy and I were going to conquer our fear of heights together. I breathed a silent sigh of relief: Amy thought I was helping her, but she didn't know how much she was helping me.
We started to harness up together, and my heart was racing, but my mind remained calm--all I thought about was Amy. I focused completely on her, and I was able to throw my bag of hesitations and fears and reservations over the bridge, far away. If were on my own, I would have been freaking out, at least on the inside. But Amy trusted me. She depended on me to get to the bottom safely. And so I wanted to make her feel as comfortable and as safe as possible. She probably would rethink her decision to go down with me if I had let my nerves take over. So I played it cool: I didn't want her to think there was any reason to worry.
We finally climbed over the fence and stood there for a second. Then, in the most unnerving moment of that experience, we had to let go and trust that the harness and the rope were going to hold us. Both of us. Amy asked me to put my arm around her before we let go. "Sure," I said. I couldn't believe how much she was willing to trust me. "Are you ready, Amy?" I asked. She nodded her head up and down. "Yeah." And then we did it. We were both hanging by the rope from the bridge, 180 feet up in the air, my arm around her tiny body. We were both elated. "Amy, you did it! Way to go, girl! Isn't this amazing?" She giggled, "Yeah! I can't believe this!"
Amy and I slowly made our way down, and she couldn't stop looking towards the ground. Instead of feeling frightened, she felt exhilarated. I, on the other hand, still felt a little anxious. With my arm around Amy, my ability to hold the rope and control the speed at which we were repelling was difficult. The muscles in my forearm ached with the extra weight. Every once in a while I felt like I might let go. But I wasn't going to let go--I couldn't lose her trust. Even though the Peak 7 volunteer up above on the bridge was there to grab the safety rope in case I lost control, I felt responsible for keeping her fear at bay. I didn't want to scare her. So I pushed through the pain, doubting myself from time to time whether I really could do it or not. Eventually, I just gave it up to God, and He gave me the strength to make it down. We made it down just fine. When we got to the ground, Amy laughed and smiled uncontrollably. "I want to do it again!" she said the instant her feet touched the ground. What an amazing girl--I was so proud of her!
"It was so nice just having you there with me. I felt so comfortable knowing you were next to me," she said as we hiked back up to the bridge were we started. "I feel the same way," I said, nodding my head up and down, agreeing wholeheartedly.

Reaching new heights with the TRM Youth

On Saturday, October 3rd, a group of youth from the Tacoma Rescue Mission chose to participate in a climbing trip hosted by volunteers from Peak 7, a non-profit adventure company, in the beautifully scenic town of North Bend, WA. The sun was out, and the day was beautiful, but we never would have guessed how chilly it was really going to be. Some of us shivered a bit. Some of us stood near one another, consolidating what bodily warmth we could muster. Maybe some of us complained. Fortunately, our group was determined to try something new; we were determined to climb. We put on our gear, strapping on a safety harness, helmet, and climbing shoes, and then we took the twenty-minute hike up to our climbing destination. We soon realized, though, that we would have the opportunity to not only rock climb that day but also repel. Sounds easy--repelling means you go down from a rock or structure, and going down the rock should be easier than climbing up the rock, right?

But imagine this: you are standing on a bridge and you have to climb over a chain link fence, after which you are forced to face a 180-foot drop that ends with water, rocks, and a thick forest of trees. At this point, the only way you can make it from the fence to the bottom of the 180-foot drop is if you have trust. We had to trust our harness, the only thing connecting our bodies to the ropes from which we dangled. We had to trust the two ropes from which we repelled, the only things connecting our harness to the bridge. We had to trust ourselves; depending on how tightly we gripped the rope with our hand, we had control of how fast we repelled from the bridge. We had to trust David, a Peak 7 volunteer who was on top of the bridge, on the other end of the "backup" rope; he was there in case we lost control of our own rope and started falling too quickly. And we had to trust God, the one and only who possesses ultimate control over our lives. So it wasn't easy--kids looked over the fence at the 180-foot expanse between themselves and the ground and were quick to say,"No way! I can't do that!" Some said, "I'm too scared." It didn't take long for our bodies to get warmed by the adrenaline that pumped through our bodies once our adventure finally started. And even though we didn't all admit to experiencing fear and doubt, I'm sure we all shared feelings of insecurity regarding the unknown and the unexpected. Were we going to be okay? Could we overcome our fears, and could we all make it down? Wait to read the next post to find out...!

SLAM 2009 slideshow

S.L.A.M. volunteer dinner cruise 2009

We had a refreshing evening as most of the volunteers from SLAM got together to enjoy Tacoma's beauty and reflect on another summer of the Tacoma Rescue Mission's Youth Program. Each volunteer and staff well deserved a night of relaxation and uninterrupted conversation. It is amazing how a group of genuine, caring people have made a life changing difference in the lives of many children. We are grateful for their dedication and commitment!

Thank you Ashley and Erik for hosting us on your incredible boat.

Ashley and Erik...captain and co-captain of this boat!!

S.L.A.M.- Arnis

S.L.A.M. truly got physical when the kids learned Arnis- Filipino Stick Fighting. For those who didn't know Arnis also known as Eskrima/Kali is a national sport in the Philippines ,and has a very long history of combat effectiveness.

Family Fun Center

This year the students at Mission youth with a 3.0 G.P.A. and above had a chance to go to the Family Fun Center and enjoy all there hard work that they put in through out the year. It is safe to say they truly enjoyed themselves.

Staying Cool at the last week of S.L.A.M.

Students Living A Mission youth are finishing up their summer program this week. The week will finish strong with Wild Waves, Community BBQ, and a final celebration with friends and family. Come by the People's Center on Friday July 31st 11:30-2 to grab some BBQ grub. The teens will be hosting a BBQ to serve their community.Hanging out in front of the fan...best place to stay cool!

Rock climbing with a blind fold...aka FAITH!

Riding public transportation!

Using creative hands ...

Memorizing God's word

Here is a sneak peak of the youth at S.L.A.M. learning and memorizing God's word!! Each day at S.L.A.M. the groups spend 20-30 min. learning about the Bible, today's application, and how much they are loved by God. Sorry about the side view : )

SLAM update

Week 1 at SLAM (Students Living A Mission)
Highlights:

Monday Science was filled with perseverance as the Middle/High School groups worked on wind mill models.

The 3rd-5th grade group actively learned more about reduce/reuse/recycling, as they made boxes and posters for the summer to remind the SLAM youth about their potential to not waste!

Here is the 1st-2nd grade group doing what they do best, HAVING FUN!!

Wednesday was a day of choice as each individual chose to participate in either acting, break dancing, singing, drum beats, and professional stick fighting.

Today we are going to Edgeworks for adventurous rock climbing!

Each summer I am reminded of the incredible volunteers that consistently provide safety, learning, and most of all love for these incredible youth. I am also reminded of the individual creativity that each child or adolescent reflects. We are grateful to God for the experiences and relationships all around us at SLAM.

End of School BBQ and Family Fun Center

Happy Summer everyone!!!

Tyler Square and the Family Shelter kids are in the full swing of summer! We just recently had our end of school barbecue to celebrate the the hard work and success of every school child at the Mission. We had a huge barbecue with a live band, cotton candy machine, tons of food, and certificates for every kid who moved on to the next grade. It was great to see all the families come out, support, and celebrate the successes of their children. Also, as an added prize, we took each kid who attained at least a 3.0 GPA over the last trimester (since the last is always the hardest!) to the Family Fun Center in Tukwila. The kids had a great time, as you can tell in the following pictures.

Also, a reminder that our summer program, S.L.A.M. (Students Leading A Mission) will be beginning July 6th and going through the end of July. Please call or contact any of the youth supervisors for more information about this great program. And, lastly, thank you for your continued support of and interest in the Tacoma Rescue Mission's Youth Program!

Youth Scavenger Hunt

Tyler Square Scavenger Hunt!
The youth created their own scavenger hunt, treasure map, and secret location for a hidden treasure! Here's a couple videos of the kids looking for the treasure:

Garden, Bubbles, & Lots of worms!!!
















A few weeks ago we catapulted our community garden and young gardeners program with a bbq, bubbles, and well, um, a lot of worms. The kids planted potatoes, lettuce, carrots, and much more! They had a lot of fun and seeing kids working together with their parents was an inspiring sight!!!


If you need any veggies or just want to come and help, we are out at Tyler Square every Thursday from 5-6.

Camp

Feb 13-16 we were able to take seven youth from tecoma rescue mission to Pleasant valley christian camp. We were able to get away from tacoma and have a weekend in the wilderness.At camp we were able to play in the snow and learn about God's love for us. We also got to play alot of dogdeball. The theme of camp was "fill me up" and we talked about what it meant to be filled up with God. The kids were able to have fun just hanging out with other kids just like them from all over the puget sound as the camp have over 100 kids come.

TRM Youth Visit "The Capitol"

The teens of the family shelter and Tyler Square excitedly saw our states capitol in Olympia, Wa. They had inquiring minds as they roamed the historic halls, asking a million questions everywhere they went. After visiting the capitol, the kids met with our state auditor, Brian Sontagg and as you can see in the picture made themselves comfortable in his office. The kids also were invited to apply for a week long job as a page helping the state senators and legislators, one teen from the family shelter applied and got accepted. Not a bad gig for an 8th grader!

SLAM 2009 Volunteers Needed

"What's SLAM?" you may be asking yourself, it is Students Living A Mission. This year it's happening from July 6th- July 31st. It is a summer program full of adventure, learning, and fun for the homeless and low income youth of the city. If you ever wondered, "What are they doing for homeless youth these days?" come and find out this summer and you can do more than just wonder! We urge you to look at your calendar, blackberry, or i-phone, and consider helping us this July! We need it!
call with questions,
James-(253) 627-4308 or
Kyle- (253) 272-1974

Teen Late Nite: City Scavenger Hunt!

Last Friday night an epic battle of the sexes transpired in which the boys competed against the girls in a city wide scavenger hunt. Each team was given a lengthy list of places, poses, and outrageous acts to compltete. After dancing with strangers, singing to strangers, doing a human pyramid, and getting a penny smashed by a train the boys team was defeated convincingly by the ladies team. For the teens it was an opportunity to have fun, get out of the shelters, and to see parts of the city they normally wouldn't.




This picture shows the boys with a homeless man who they gave a a bag of food to.




This picture shows the kids touching a fountain in the Stadium district of Tacoma.

Mt. Rainier Snowshoeing

To go where no urban teen has gone before, into the depths of the Mt.
Rainier national forest. With only snowshoes strapped on, some warm clothes, and a water we took teens out of the city and into the snow! Despite being a little cold, wet, and nervous they had tons of fun and began to realize that anything is possible!