Nonprofit helps shape young lives and their community

Healthy relationships between teens and their parents, their peers, and other caring adults do not always form easily. One faith-based local nonprofit organization with a global reach has been helping to build those relationships, with a goal of making all involved youth feel a sense of belonging.

Young Life has been introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith since 1941. It is active in more than 100 countries around the world. The mostly volunteer-fueled organization has been active in the Mat-Su since the early 2000s, when it first organized at Houston High School, before later expanding to Colony High in 2007, and Wasilla High shortly after that. Jonna Clark, Young Life Mat-Su’s area director since 2018, said the organization is for all young people, middle school to college, wherever they live and whomever they are.

“We love students regardless of their response to faith,” she said.

There are specific ministries aimed at each age group, all with the mission of caring for teens and pre-teens and helping them live life to the fullest by providing fun, adventurous, life-changing experiences.

“The youth in our community are so empathetic. They care about the world because it's at their fingertips,” Clark said. “Our teenagers need healthy adults to step into their lives, where they are, and simply listen.”

She said the current generation of youth face new and diverse challenges. Living in Alaska, with its winter darkness and feeling of isolation, can compound those challenges. “They can be so very lonely,” Clark said. “They desire to feel known and loved and like they matter.”

A recent $35,000 grant from the Mat-Su Health Foundation will help Young Life expand its mentoring activities in the community and reach out to more youth. “The Mat-Su Health Foundation is such a gift to our organization and the community around us. They truly help us feel like we are not doing community work alone,” she said. “This grant will allow us to restructure and explore new fund-raising strategies so we can focus more time and energy on reaching out and building relationships with adolescents.”

The grant is part of more than $130 million distributed around the Mat-Su by the health foundation since 2008. As part owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, the health foundation has become a significant partner in community health and wellness, while continuing to do its part to ensure that the medical center meets the needs of the Valley’s growing population.

“So often in the nonprofit world, we are running an uphill battle trying to serve the population that we're passionate to serve,” Clark said. “The Mat-Su Health Foundation coming alongside our organization, and others that I personally collaborate with, brings the kind of energy that allows us to remember that we're not alone. It frees us up to go and do the good work with the population we serve.”

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https://matsuvalley.younglife.org/

https://younglife.org/