Breaking for Spring 2023
By Jarod Dyess, Education Coordinator
One of the things we focus on for boys in our ministry is developing positive relationships. Boys at Youth-Reach come from situations where they’ve made poor choices that landed them in hot water.
Daniel Hood, an 18-year-old resident, remarked, “Peer pressure and problems in my life contributed to Spring Break at home consisting of bad influences, drinking, smoking, and having that temporary enjoyment that led people to addictions.”
While many teens spend Spring Break going wild with drunken parties and other ways of getting into trouble, we make sure our sons have safe, wholesome environments to have fun and build connections with our staff and each other.
Hood continued, “… since all the residents here have the same goal of changing our lives, during this Spring Break, we got to experience healthy activities and relationships as opposed to our past.”
We promote a true brotherhood among the young men in our home. Frequently we see many of them develop life-long friendships because of all they have in common. The opportunities Youth-Reach provides these boys are very rare in the world.
“Last Spring Break, I stayed at home and read in my room all day, counting down the days for school to start again. It was something I dreaded,” said Dakotah McKenzie, a Level Two resident who has been at Youth-Reach since last September.
“This Spring Break was different. I woke up every morning eager to go to new places, especially with the other guys – they are some of the closest friends I’ve ever had.”
For Spring Break week, our boys enjoyed their time off school with an outing each day. We kicked off the fun with bowling at Main Event on Monday. We went retro at an 80s arcade in downtown Houston on Tuesday, and paintballing on Wednesday was a favorite of most. We headed off to the beach on Thursday where they enjoyed swimming and football, and we ended the week with dinner and a movie. As always, our March tradition proved to be beneficial and memorable for all involved.
Please keep the Youth-Reach Houston family in your prayers as we continue to use ours passion to bring the Gospel to the hurting.
