Empowering Youth Through Service
A Look at KCB's Partnership with The Renew Youth Team
By Director of Homeless Care, Marley Penalosa
At the end of July, KCB hosted the Renew Youth Team in partnership with Rosewood Church. The Renew Youth Team consists of students from churches across the United States who gather for a week working on several goals together—one of them being to serve their neighbors in practical ways. It was a pleasure to have this group come alongside our staff and help with service projects.
The team spent their first day with us learning about KCB and then assisting staff with several projects around the office. They helped staff work on filing, data entry, organization and other projects; and they themselves learned a lot about what it takes to make the work at KCB happen.
During the team’s second visit, they spent the day assembling hygiene kits and learning more about how these kits benefit our homeless neighbors. Our Director of Community Development and formerly homeless neighbor, Ellen, came to speak with them and enlighten them about homelessness. I then took the team out to do outreach and pass out hygiene kits in the local riverbeds. It was very eye-opening and life-giving to the group.
On their last service day with KCB, the team came to Margaret’s House to spend some time with the kids who are staying there and help create garden boxes so the kids can have their own plants. After assisting with the garden box project and other laborious projects at Margaret’s House, they were able to paint with the kids and do other games and crafts. The day ended in a fun water play as the summer sun shone down on us.
Overall, it was very refreshing and life-giving to have the Renew Youth Team here with us. The group was kind and willing to help in any way they could. It was especially great to meet the youth who live locally. Some of them really had a gift for speaking with our homeless neighbors and showed potential in working in the social services field. We hope the time they had with us was a great experience and that they see the importance of loving their homeless neighbors and supporting local work that is changing the community.
Looking to partner with KCB through service opportunities? Visit our volunteer page here or connect with one of our team members at volunteer@kcbellflower.org!