When people hear about impact stories within our SPORTSreach180 & ARTreach 180 programs, they immediately (and rightly so) identify those impact stories only affecting the students.

That’s not wrong…but there’s SO much more impact that’s happening at those campuses. Over the years of being the Programs Director, I’ve been honored and blessed to see so many impact stories come to life.

What do ARTreach 180 and SPORTSreach 180 mean to me? As I pondered this question, the word God placed on my heart was HOPE.

When you walk into our campuses (and I hope you do at some point) that is something you feel all the way to your bones…HOPE.

Hope is given from the hearts of the staff, in the program’s model, and it’s shared throughout the students. Whether you’re new or not, hope is evident at our 3 campuses. Think of it like that sigh of relief you get after a traumatic event and it REALLY make you feel like there’s hope. That’s it.

Along with HOPE, comes so much more, encouragement, support, joy, serenity, surrender. It can come in the form of a person, a smile, a “hey how was your day” or even in a “when you’re ready to talk I’m here”. But you can absolutely feel that HOPE exists, and you know what that gives me? HOPE!

I get very emotional (even right now as I’m typing this and if you know me, you get it) about what I do because I LOVE what I do and the WHAT we do. We get to do AMAZING Kingdom work and God has blessed us with students to share and spread hope to.

In a world that doesn’t know much about the sharing of hope anymore, if teens and adults can come to a safe space, like ARTreach 180 or SPORTSreach 180 and FEEL hope ALL around them, then that, too, gives me more hope.

So… what does ARTreach 180 and SPORTSreach 180 mean to ME… HOPE!