Sometimes I struggle with how to paint a verbal picture for you of what I hear and see every day at SCYM. There are little moments that happen in ordinary spaces with ordinary people, and stories that unfold over a long haul, that you know are eternally significant because hope has entered. At SCYM we […]
How can we do our best for the children in our midst who carry the heaviest burdens? Starting January 11, SCYM is partnering with the Nehemiah Foundation to offer a new series of four workshops designed for volunteers, mentors, church teachers and leaders, and anyone who works with children in the faith-based community. Presented by […]
The annual Celebrate Kids! Carnival is coming on Saturday, October 12! We’re inviting the whole community out to Maiden Lane Church of God for all kinds of fun, food, and activities for kids from 5:00-7:00 pm. Along with hosting all kinds of fun for the community, Celebrate Kids! raises funds to keep SCYM programs running for […]
10 Practical Ways not to Take Our Kids for Granted When I picked up my first-grade daughter from school last Friday at 3:00 in Springfield, Ohio, the world was radically different than it was when I dropped her off that morning. The normalcy of a school day in Connecticut, the innocence of children, had been […]
From a very young age I have fond memories of my grandmother looking me in the eye and saying to me with a big smile, “I can’t wait to see what you grow up to be!” My grandma was a great Christian lady, and though she went home to be with the Lord before […]
From a very young age I have fond memories of my grandmother looking me in the eye and saying to me with a big smile, “I can’t wait to see what you grow up to be!” My grandma was a great Christian lady, and though she went home to be with the Lord before […]
I just returned from a city elementary school, where the 5th grade girls in the group I work with each week are very excited about a project. I asked them, “What is one thing you wish kids in your school would do differently?” and “What is one thing you’ve learned in our group this year […]
A couple weeks ago during staff devotions we had an interesting conversation about justice and righteousness and how that relates to what we do here at SCYM. Typically, when we think about our programs (such as STARS, Wise Guys, or Girl Power), justice isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Mercy, compassion, or love […]
256 – Total number of kids served 218 – Number who came to a program 3 or more times 6 – City schools represented in SCYM programs 28 – Kids who gave at least 10 hours of service with SCYM 80 – Percentage of kids surveyed after attending SCYM programs who said that “what God […]
There were many times I wanted to quit. Some weeks it seemed the kids didn’t even care if we were there. My first year working with SCYM was full of ups and downs as we tried to earn the trust and respect of the teens. But they seemed so inconsistent, and it was hard to […]