Kudos

Teen Reach sends out kudos to our retreat facilitators and artists.

2006 4A State Championship Team Players being honored

They’re doing amazing things and we’re honored they shared their talents with us at Camp Thunderbird in 2014.

Jackie O debuted her title song and the theme of our event “Letting Go”

Can’t wait for our 2015 events!

 

In extreme darkness even a small candle can create a great light

BELIEVE!! Happy Holidays!

Glorious produced by Cj

One of the artists featured at the retreat… more to come!!

http://chieffcloud.bandcamp.com/track/glorious  

Fall down seven times … get up eight

TEEN REACH – CHARLOTTE

Check Out Like and Share our Facebook page  Teen Reach – Charlotte
Saturday August 23, 2014
Camp Thunderbird
1 Thunderbird Ln
Lake Wylie SC

Register Early to Join us for our next retreat in APRIL 2015. Details coming soon!

Register at http://TeenReach.us

Emily Maynard shared her journey at our 2014 retreat!

VISIT OUR EVENT PAGE FOR PICS of OUR AMAZING DAY!

Teen Reach Mission: To inspire youth to live a complete life;loving, serving, and respecting themselves and one another.

Whats the answer?

When we lose someone like Robin Williams to self-harm … time stops. We mourn the loss and wonder “how?” “why?” It’s inconceivable, completely incomprehensible to believe or understand how someone so talented, so funny, so wealthy, so famous might choose not to be here!

Sadly – I wish I didn’t – but I get it – and I’ve been driving the wheels off my car to share Rana’s story with young people; because in 2001 our world stopped and rolled off its axis. As her friends have gone to college and started families, Rana remains forever young, forever 15 and I mourn the life she could have, would have, should have had. I mourn the fact that her nephew will never know her hugs.

The truth is – traditional therapy and counseling doesn’t work for everyone. After she was violated, Rana couldn’t open up to some stranger sitting across from her with a notepad. No doubt we have insurance co. and attorneys to thank for all rules counselors have that prevent them from truly reaching those in need. In this incredible Good Will Hunting video clip, Robin Williams is likely breaking a rule by meeting his patient outside of his office. BUT THAT’s what was needed to actually help his patient!

I can’t say that our upcoming Teen Reach retreat would have helped a Robin Williams had he attended in his youth. I’ll never know if it would have changed Rana’s mind. I do know, the current methods of counseling don’t work for everyone because we’re losing too many beautiful spirits before their time and I can’t sit by and do nothing.

Life does not always serve up Chicken Soup. No, at times it blindsides us, chews up our soul and spits it back in our face. Our upcoming retreat is designed to walk the talk of making positive choices for coping with challenging life circumstances. Join me at Camp Thunderbird August 23rd. Let’s DO something about it.

Upcoming TEEN REACH RETREAT

Since 2010 we’ve been invited into local high schools to address bullying dating violence and self-injury prevention. The feedback has been overwhelming both positive and shocking. We’ve come to realize how many young people are dealing with all kinds of life circumstances. So we got together to plan out an amazing day!

JOIN US for a surprising message from Season 8 Bachelorette EMILY MAYNARD and break out songwriting sessions with Jocelyn Ellis! Then choose your de-stressors: ZIP LINE, GIANT SWING, ART, ZUMBA, DISC GOLF and much much more!!

Join Us!! Register at http://teenreach.us

SPACE IS LIMITED register early to guarantee your spot!
go to http://teenreach.us

Local HS Football Player Honors Rana

After speaking to freshman health classes at Butler HS re: bullying, dating violence and self-injury prevention a student asked if it would be ok to honor Rana at their big game that Friday. I cried when I received his email this morning.
“Your story about your daughter helped me so much more
than I can tell you. I thank you for sharing with us
and I wish you and your family the best of luck!”

Independence is always a local force to be reckoned with and Butler outdid them. I believe there was an Angel on their side that night. Thank you Clifton and congratulations on your touchdown.

So proud of Hannah, my Australian friend, who is sharing how bullying affects her life.

My Name is Hannah, I have major depression and I’m 19 years old, through getting diagnosed with this was due to being bullied all my entire schooling by students at school and on social media (Facebook, MSN, text messages, Prank Calls,) Some of the names i was getting called made me have low self esteem and i didn’t feel comfortable around a lot of people. When going through primary school i had hardly any friends so basically having no one to talk too and that impacted on me when it became recess and lunchtime i would prefer not to eat because i didn’t feel right and didn’t have anyone to sit with and have a chat like everyone else did. When being told to get up for school i use too not like it because of similar problems going on everyday and that students were pressuring me and calling me names and starting bullying me and when trying to tell teachers they wouldn’t listen they would take the other persons side of the story. When having no friends at primary school i use to hang around with my sister and get told of by the teachers for doing it. So ended up sitting by myself and felt uncomfortable and isolated and unsafe. When i started high school that was a different story i made some friends that actually cared about me. But then there were days new people moved to the school and made friends with them so i then got pushed away and ended up having no friends so i use to hang around my locker and stayed right next to it and had people laugh at me and made fun of me because i was standing around my locker and ended up having things thrown at me sticky tape around my lock people shaking them so all my books fell out when i opened it food wrapped around it even also glue and they use to push there friends into my locker and make fun of me when i use to do sport because i wasn’t the fittest girl in school and i use to feel really shy around people and then they would spread Rumors about me around the school and post them on Facebook and ended up being behind my back. These certain people Kept bullying me from year 7 to year 12 and would prank call me at home and at school and being at school i use to get in trouble for it. When i went to tell a teacher about this i would get all the blame for it and they would say ignore it and truthfully i didn’t work it kept happening so then i ended up going home every night to my family crying and depressed because i was getting bullied that much i was scared about going back to school the next day. So then i reached year 12 and a really close friend messaged me at night time and thought i rang her and said i wanted to commit suicide when i didn’t and she rang me during the night and i said to her i didn’t do it and ended up ringing the police on me because she thought i was in danger and i would never do that so then i woke my parents and told them so they rang i rang the police and asked them what was going on and they were going to come out and do a welfare check on me so before that happened my parents rang the police and said i was perfectly fine. By the end of getting bullied so much i had enough and ended up sitting down in my bedroom and writing a bullying speech about how i felt and read it out in front of my school which had 600 people and i was so scared doing it after that i had teachers crying and students coming up to me and saying sorry and what a good job i did.
I dont know what i would do without my family supporting me.
Hannah xx
Thank you Hannah very much for sharing this with us Courageous Angels Goal Team

Vaccine Developer Reveals the Truth.

Rebuilding Around Loss

True … never the same and hardly whole. This poster surrounding the loss of a loved one helped me find the words to convey the sheer relentless agony of watching my other two children grow older then their big sister. Watching my daughter’s friends (who, after the loss, quickly became and remain our dear friends) move on to college, and now, as they get married and start families. As much as they loved and remember Rana, most can’t include us in their big day, not their happiest of days.

Behind the smiles at my younger daughter’s wedding, lived the reality that her real Maid of Honor would be watching from above. Now baby sister is having her first child. Aunt Rana should be here! I do feel Rana’s spiritual presence but oh how I want her nieces and nephews to know her physical hugs! Everyday, I miss Rana’s hugs.

Judge Hammond – do you stand by your sentencing of the two men that took Rana’s hope and changed the lives of so many people? How do you sleep at night having given only 1 year of house arrest?? All because the grandfather of one of the predators drove for some Senator. Who?

I’ll always want my Rana back, our family back … Though somehow we have and continue to rebuild through, around, with, over, under our loss.

Bullying MUST stop. Sexual assault is the worst form of bullying. It has existed through the ages. So what needs to change? EXPOSURE. Let’s stop the definition of insanity – doing the same things expecting different results. What can we do differently? TALK, TELL. Quit acting like it doesn’t exist or it’s no big deal.

Let’s talk and not run from the tough topics – Joel Osteen I DO love your messages and I’m not saying to dwell on the evil. We must walk through fire without smelling of smoke so that we might effect positive change! We can’t turn a blind in order to “remain clean” while our brothers suffer in pain. We must stop and tend to those beaten down and left to die on the side of the road!