Dear Friends,

In 2010, I started the FullCircle Youth at Risk Ministry. Since that time, we have been able to assist hundreds of families and their children who are affected by substance misuse, eating or cutting and other self-destructive behaviors. Our goal is to help heal the family by bringing them FullCircle: back to wholeness and holiness.

One thing we have learned is that there is no shortage of young people that need help and support. For many reasons our families are being hit hard by these problems and often suffer in silence out of fear or shame. One of the first places they turn for help is to their faith and by extension to the Church. Trying to navigate the complex system of social services is often daunting to a family. What we are able to provide is either a support system for them and their young person or to point them in the right direction when their needs are greater than we can handle.

Parents often come to us after they have tried multiple programs that have not worked or that their young person detested. The price tag that goes along with that at least financially is staggering for many families. It is not unusual for us to hear that a family spent twenty or thirty thousand dollars trying to get their young person help. And they are usually pleasantly surprised when their teen wants to stay and participate in the FullCircle Program. One parent remarked, “I don’t understand it, after 5 programs, a few arrests and absolute refusal to change, my son loves coming to your program and is becoming my son again.” Because of the generosity of so many, we can offer all our services at no cost to families!

When asked what’s our secret to success, I simply answer “God”. Which means making love the center of all we do. When a young person can learn to love him or herself which often only happens when they receive love from others, then they can finally realize that God loves them. When they get there, then they stop hurting themselves and start loving themselves and wanting to give that love to others. I didn’t invent the concept, Jesus did.

Many of the young people who come to us are very broken, often abused, and their family life is in tatters. It is no easy task trying to put all that back together again. The details of many of their stories are sordid, ugly, violent, abuse filled and dark. The scenarios that they come from are often grotesque and at times startling. Still we are able to give them light and hope and help them on the road to recovery.

We shouldn’t think of them as something exotic or foreign. They are our children- often from good families that unravel from the chaotic behavior of out of control teens.

We have been able to keep the program running because of the generosity of many donors. Many of them are you! FullCircle now operates in Kansas City, Colorado, Georgia and in 2023, we will be opening one in Charlotte, NC. While I had plans for a small outreach ministry in Arizona, God had other plans.

This time of year, we conduct our Annual Appeal so that we can fund our budgets for next year. A downturn in the economy hits non-profits hard! So, our needs are greater this year than most years. There are many ways you can support the FullCircle Program. Just visit: https://fullcircleprogram.co/donations to make a onetime or a monthly donation.

Or become a “Teen Titan” by sponsoring one of our teens in the Program: https://www.fullcircleprogram.com/sponsor-teen. Or if you would like to consider a legacy gift, estate gift, or a gift of real property, contact our Director of Development, Kristin Smith at kristinsmith@fullcircleprogram.com. All donations are tax-deductible.

The problems are real and the solutions are at our fingertips. Please be the hands that help our teens and families find healing and a new way of life!

Love,

Fr. John B.

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