Teen Challenge Farm

Description

MISSION STATEMENT
To provide faithbased residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres funded entirely by donations providing spiritual academic and vocational training equipping individuals to return to society as responsible citizens

CORE VALUES

We believe that the transformation process happens best in a longterm
residential setting for people with substance abuse problems

We believe that all lifecontrolling drug addiction problems can be
permanently overcome

We believe that a balance of love and accountability needs to permeate every
aspect of the Teen Challenge residential setting for the individual to
succeed in the program and subsequently in society

We believe that God is the catalyst for change for people with life
controlling drug and alcohol problems

We believe that excellence best serves the people we help and therefore we
are committed to excellence in everything we do

We believe that the people we serve are best helped with team work from all
sectors of society including the staff volunteers government and the
community at large

History

GLOBAL TEEN CHALLENGE
Years ago the story of David Wilkerson and Teen Challenge was chronicled in the multimillioncopy bestseller book and movie entitled The Cross and the Switchblade

2008 marks the 50th anniversary of Teen Challenge International with celebrations scheduled for June 2008 in New York City Alumni from around the world will be gathering in New York City to celebrate Gods goodness in their lives and to mark this important milestone in the ministry of Teen Challenge

Back in 1958 David Wilkerson a young Pastor from Phillipsburg Pennsylvania felt called to New York City to reach out to troubled youth on the streets After reaching hundreds who wanted help he found that many needed long term residential care and mentoring It was then that Teen Challenge was formed to provide a structured faithbased residential program for those with life controlling drug and alcohol problems This is how the ministry of Teen Challenge began and has spread literally around the world today

Today Teen Challenge is a nonprofit interdenominational faithbased program operating in 82 countries with over 510 autonomous locations internationally and continues to grow at a dramatic pace worldwide

Teen Challenge in Canada was founded as a Canadian registered charity for the express purpose of meeting the needs of the Canadian drug abuse problem The Teen Challenge centers in Canada have never received financial support from its American counterpart peer organizations

Global Teen Challenge is located in Columbus GA USA and helps plan coordinate and approve new Teen Challenge ministries in third world countries It has no control or jurisdiction over Canadian operations

TEEN CHALLENGE FARM LONDON ON
Teen Challenge started its first outreach in 1973 as a small coffee house outreach in downtown Hamilton Ontario with a goal to reach out to young people who were struggling with lifecontrolling problems including drugs and alcohol This approach reaped positive results which precipitated the need to open a fullfledged Teen Challenge residential program in the early 80s

In 1982 as a result of the generosity of a local church Teen Challenge was able to purchase a permanent 18 bed residential facility in Hamilton Ontario as its new base of operations During this time the most significant development in the ministry was the establishment of a residential induction program which was a precursor to the farm program

As Teen Challenge continued to grow it became evident that larger rurallylocated facilities were need to help more young men in need Subsequently the Hamilton facility was sold and in 1989 Teen Challenge purchased a former nursing home near the town of Lambeth Ontario On July 28 1990 the Teen Challenge Farm was officially dedicated and opened

This new facility now called the Teen Challenge Farm tripled the capacity of the program and provided a rural environment more conducive to rehabilitation A variety of training programs such as commercial food preparation laundry and maintenance construction small engine repair farming etc began and to this day continues to be a valuable part providing training to young men and adults coming to the farm for help

Since those days the Teen Challenge Farm has continued to grow and most importantly countless numbers of lives have been permanently changed and set free from their former way of life The farm as it is often known has been instrumental in helping open andor establish most of the Teen Challenge centres across Canada