Alana has been faithfully coming to the TenTen center for three years now.
She first heard about Youth for Christ through the dance coaches at Shaw Junior High School, which piqued her interest. Once she started attending, Alana began developing friendships with other students and solid relationships with staff, especially when she joined the YFC dance team.
This past summer Alana started experiencing some serious mental health issues, but was not in a place to reach out for help or share with staff. During that summer, Alana and the rest of the YFC dance team performed at the Hillyard block party, dancing to the song “Reckless Love” from Bethel Music. She had shared with a staff member how that particular song gives her a deep sense of peace in God’s love for her.
Two days after the dance performance at the summer block party, Alana’s mental health crisis hit a rock bottom. She had come up with a plan to try and take her life. Although she had a plan, Alana did not feel that she could follow through, and she found herself wandering the streets at 2 AM. Finding herself at a friend’s house, she asked if she could come inside. Alana was still torn between feeling hopeless but also wanting to find hope. The friend convinced Alana to reach out for help, but Alana wasn’t sure at first who in her life would be willing to help her through this crisis in the early hours of the morning.
The first person she thought of who would be willing to walk into this difficult season with her was one of our YFC staff members, who is also the dance coach for the YFC dance team. So in the very early hours of the morning, Alana bravely made a phone call on her friend’s phone to take the first steps in asking for help. Although she was frightened, hopeless, and feeling ashamed, our staff member was able to talk with Alana long enough to get her to agree to make it through to the next day and to start the process of getting more mental health help. Our staff member made a plan to meet with Alana at the TenTen Center in the morning with some other staff.
The next morning Alana showed up to the TenTen Center and was able to share with staff some of what she had been facing in life recently and the growing darkness that she had been feeling over the past number of weeks. We were able to coordinate with her parents, who then helped Alana get into therapy and pursue the help that she needed. In a phone call with Alana’s mother, she thanked our staff for being there in a moment of crisis and giving hope when it was needed most.
Today, Alana is still very involved on the YFC dance team and can often be heard playing “Reckless Love” to her dance routines. Alana also loves participating in our Bible Studies and our various workshops. She also now attends church locally and is involved in their youth group. Alana now attends Rogers High School where she has had some struggles with other students, so we continue to pray and walk with her through these difficult things. But even in the midst of present struggles, Alana now knows that there are people who care for her, and even more importantly, that God cares for her more than she could ever know.