At 6 years old, Brett entered foster care. He spent 11 years in and out of group homes and different foster placements. Finding a permanent home felt like it was never going to happen for him.
Blog Articles
LifeSet gives Tresja confidence to move forward
LifeSet helps young people identify and achieve their goals, but it also does more. For Tresja, it was the intangible benefits the program provided that meant so much to her.
LifeSet to launch in Central Washington with Catholic Charities
LifeSet is moving east in the Evergreen State. In mid-June, Catholic Charities Serving Central Washington was announced as the new partner to provide LifeSet in the area. The organization will serve youth in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties with LifeSet under contract with the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).
LifeSet’s Helen Baker grows through challenges, successes in Seattle
Helen Baker is the LifeSet program director at the Y Social Impact Center, a part of the YMCA of Greater Seattle that serves King and Pierce Counties in Washington. Baker, who started as a LifeSet specialist, has been with the YMCA’s program since it began in 2016. In this Q&A, she offers insight into the successes and challenges that LifeSet has experienced in Washington.
How to protect your family’s mental health amid inflation
With the recent inflation and rise in costs of everyday items, families are experiencing financial strain/stress in recent months. That financial stress/strain has created a “domino effect” that reaches into the area of mental health for families and youth.
LifeSet Gives Student a Chance to Run towards success
Ares Epps is a LifeSet participant, LifeSet Scholar and a North Carolina State University student athlete, who has accomplished many of his goals through track and field, and with the support of Youth Villages. The LifeSet program offers youth who are aging out of foster care tools to ease the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Meet Memphis Allies: Brandon and Bryan Mathis, Life Coaches
The man was shot and killed in front of his 2-year-old daughter. It was another senseless homicide in Memphis; another child traumatized by gun violence. To Brandon and Bryan Mathis and the Memphis Allies team, this man, this incident was more than just a statistic.
East Tennessee’s Backpack Heroes gets big boost from KAAR, ‘Birdies for Backpacks’
Backpack Heroes is an annual Youth Villages fundraiser focused on equipping children and young adults in each of the organization’s service regions with school supplies needed for the upcoming year. East Tennessee is one of those areas, and Youth Villages is grateful for the financial support Backpack Heroes receives from the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors (KAAR) and its Birdies for Backpacks golf tournament.
Donor Spotlight: Meghan Markie
Middle Tennessee native and donor, Meghan Markie, originally from Columbia, Tennessee, has been supporting Youth Villages after her father introduced her to the organization, where he volunteered as a Dell employee before his passing. Since getting involved, Meghan joined the Middle Tennessee Advisory Board, and for the last two years, she served as Board Chair.
Lack of adequate mental health care places heavy burden on young people
A PBS NewsHour team followed staff in our Intercept and Specialized Crisis Services programs in East Tennessee for this powerful report on the children’s mental health crisis.