Thank you Women’s History Month readers for making big smiles and big impacts on our kids!

We would like to give a special thanks to all of our Women’s History Month readers throughout March!  We know that you touched the lives of our at-risk students by helping them learn from role models who have gone before them and challenged the norm.  Students learned about anything from the suffrage movement and famous, historical female figures to modern-day equality.  Many readers talked with the students during and after the story about what it meant to them individually.

YLLC board member, Rachel Baily, stops by YLLC-West to read "Elizabeth Leads the Way," a story about Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who helped get women the right to vote and fought for many other women's rights. "I'd be happy to come out again anytime," Baily says.

"It was fun and magical, because she was so pretty. The book was so funny, and it talked about what you're gonna be when you grow up," said Abrea King, YLLC-Riverchase second-grade student (pictured left of volunteer reader, Nisha Garner.)

At YLLC-Hillside, Lori Cain reads a story about Mary McLeod Bethune, a renowned educator, who was best known for starting a school for African-American students and being an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

YLLC-Hillside's second Women's History Month reader, Valerie Lancaster, read a poem on fearlessness by Maya Angelou. After listening to the poem, the students wrote their own poems about being fearless and presented them to Valerie and their YLLC peers.

Kim Church read the story of Dr. Mae C. Jemison, the first black female astronaut to go into space from the book, "5 Brave Explorers" at YLLC-Easley. "I had the opportunity to not only read to the kids but spend time with them and learn about their lives and dreams. We talked about their goals and what they wanted to do with their lives. The experience once again reminded me of the importance of YLLC and how we are changing lives everyday," says Church.

Visit our Facebook page to see more pictures from our reading celebrations in honor of Women’s History Month.

YLLC partners with “Unconditional,” film to hit theaters fall 2012, for call to “ACT.”

Youth Life partners with “Unconditional,” a film to hit theaters this coming fall, to express the urgent need to serve at-risk children and youth in inner-city communities all across the country in a movement called, “ACT.”  After “Unconditional” producers came to know our ministry through their relationship with the Boselli Foundation in Jacksonville, Florida, the partnership seemed inevitable.  In fact, producers shot their “ACT” video at Youth Life Learning Centers in Jacksonville.

“They really want it to be more than just a movie but a movement to action,” says Yolanda Shields, CEO of Youth Life Learning Centers.  “I didn’t realize until halfway into the movie that it was about my friend, Joe Bradford, whom I have known for over 20 years!  He is definitely an example of how one person can make a difference to impact children living in the inner-city.  Our partnership with “Unconditional” and “ACT” will allow observers to see what faith based organizations throughout the country are already doing to impact children and families and how they can help the cause.”

“What Youth Life Foundation of Tennessee (YLFT) has been doing since 2001 is a perfect model of doing urban ministry in a way that brings sustainable changes to the lives of at-risk children and youth,” says Benjamin Thigpen, Director of Community Relations and ACT for Harbinger Media Partners, LLC, Producers of “Unconditional.” “By focusing on a balanced program of education, character and life skills, Youth Life has deeply impacted kids living in Tennessee communities.  YLLC is an urban ministry that we are proud to highlight and encourage our viewers to support via donations, volunteering, partnering, etc.“

Make sure to check out “Unconditional” at a theater near you this September!  Read more about “Unconditional” and the ACT movement.

Wesley Legg, Co-Producer of “Unconditional” and Chief Operating Officer of Harbinger Media Partners, added, “We are blown away by how many people are responding to the movie and we can’t wait to see how God moves on the hearts of audiences across the country this fall.”

“…it is a pleasure to serve them [YLLC students] indirectly,” says Tamela Brooks

Tamela Brooks, a 22-year-old recent graduate of Texas Southern University and employee at Girls Incorporated Memphis, was introduced to Youth Life Learning Centers through an orientation week for Downline Ministries’ “Emerging Leaders Program.”  She serves our non-profit in a unique way.  Rather than working directly with YLLC students like many of our volunteers, Tamela assists the YLLC-Memphis teacher with any administrative needs on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

“Although I’m not with the students, it is a pleasure to serve them indirectly… [This] allows her [YLLC-Memphis teacher] to minister to the students whole heartedly, not worrying if something needs to be done or not,” says Tamela.

From scheduling and evaluations to activity time and snacks, Tamela is able to serve Youth Life students and their families under the radar.  Her service has made it clear that you don’t have to even have a direct relationship with students to make a major impact on them.

Administrative volunteering at Youth Life Learning Centers allows those who are not able to volunteer during regular program hours to still contribute their time and efforts into our services.  Whether you can help out in the office or at the center closest to you, we invite you to become apart of the volunteering experience at YLLC.  Trust me:  you will not be bored.

We certainly want to acknowledge this under the radar volunteer for her helpful hand in serving our at-risk, inner-city students in Memphis.

Deja West is quick to help her YLLC peers

Deja West, fifth grader at Keystone Elementary School, has been attending YLLC-Memphis after school in the fall of 2010.  Since then, her YLLC teacher has seen a big improvement in her grades and attitude.  Deja is many times the first to finish homework and start cleaning up.

Deja West, pictured second from the right

Not only is she a leader, but Deja is also “quick to help,” says her YLLC teacher.   In fact, some of the younger YLLC-Memphis students were struggling with spelling, so Deja took it upon herself to create spelling pretests for these students and taught them to use helpful tricks for memorization like acronyms.  With her caring efforts, these younger students seem to be doing a lot better on their spelling tests according to her YLLC teacher.

Her teacher believes it is because of the mentoring that Youth Life provides that she is able to mimic that positive, helpful attitude and get excited about the program of which she is apart.  She loves the Fun Fridays, daily Bible devotions, community events and homework help that Youth Life has to offer.  We are so thrilled that Deja is as excited to be apart of Youth Life as we are to have her in our program.

Tashi McClain encourages students with some tough love.

Each Thursday and Friday, Tashi McClain gets to interact with kids on a one-on-one basis, while going on fun field trips, such as a trip to a Halloween corn maze.  After hearing about Youth Life on a freshman year field trip with one of her classes, Tashi, a Lipscomb University senior, studying law, justice and society, and a member of her school’s Phi Alpha Delta, later came across Youth Life again and decided to take action.  She has been volunteering in YLLC West’s middle school classroom for the past year and a half.  Although the days of the week have varied due to the class schedule that semester, Tashi’s mission is the same– to encourage the students that they can succeed.  She says that when the students complain about work being too difficult or too long, rather than sugar-coating it, she tells students that homework only gets more difficult when you get to college and that understanding the foundation for education will help them later.  Encouragement from students not to give up is sometimes all they need, no matter their circumstances.

“I want to be an example for them [communicating to them] that no matter what background you are from, you can do whatever you want to do.  I came from a single-parent home like many of the YLLC students… even though I fell under that statistic, I didn’t let that stop me from reaching my goals.”

Tashi is truly one who sets an example for those at Youth Life.  When students see that she is still able to volunteer at the centers twice per week to help students with their homework, they too feel they can step it up.  Tashi would like to invite others to volunteer with her at Youth Life Learning Centers.

“Give it a chance,” she says.  “You can’t change the world, but you can make a difference with one student at a time.  You don’t need to come every day, but if you change one life, they can change other lives.  You can start the chain and think about the greater good.  And it honestly doesn’t take a lot, even if it’s only one or two hours per week.”