August Champion for Youth: Jennifer Nelson

What is your profession or vocation?

Ministry Administrator/ Community Outreach Coordinator at Edna Martin Christin Center

	How are you an Everyday Champion for Youth?

I developed a pre-school program that focuses on kindergarten readiness with an affordable rate for everyday working parents.  The program accepts students 2-5 years old and is open Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.  The curriculum focuses on reading, math, social studies, science, and social skills along with the basics needed to do well in school.  Our mission is to inspire our children to live God-centered lives so we have daily bible lessons and devotions with them.  The classrooms all have low student teacher ratios and the teachers attend regular trainings for enrichment to assure that we are providing the best and up to date care and procedures possible.  Our ministry is not just a Christian based program, but one designed to instill our students with morals and a love for exceeding academically.    

What impact do you hope to make on youth?

I hope that this ministry will be a memorable experience for the students and the parents.  We must instill morals while children are young. We  also must understand that the things we are teaching them now are the things that will set the bar for their development in the future.  Being here is definitely a place where we can do that.  We have all the support that the parents will need from social services to just being a shoulder to lean on.  I hope that we can touch some lives and that all our students succeed in to the highest of their ability and take all the knowledge from their experience being here with us all the way to adulthood.

	What's one thing that you wish an adult had told you when you were a young person?   I wish someone would have told me that places like the Edna Martin Christian Center existed.  I didn’t know anything about not for profit organizations so this was my first experience even being at one. If I would have known about this place sooner I would have been here a long time ago.

	What do you want to do next to support youth? My next project will be expanding the pre-K youth programs when  we move to 37 Place in the fall.  When we make the move I want to reach out to more of our young parents and see what we can do to be a support to them.

Do you work directly with youth?

Yes

What percentage of your time is spent working directly with youth or families?

100%