Photo caption: Tara Rhodes (left), SSM Health vice president of Operations for St. Agnes Hospital, Ripon Community Hospital and Waupun Memorial Hospital, presents a $2,500 donation to Ron Riemersma, Badgerland Youth for Christ executive director.
SSM Health is giving $2,500 to Badgerland Youth for Christ, a non-denominational, faith-based youth organization striving to help develop the lives of students in the Fond du Lac and surrounding areas, through mentoring, programming, and strong collaborative partnerships in the community.
The donation will help the following programs:
- Parent Life (Teen Parents Ministry): An at-risk initiative in the Fond du Lac area reaching pregnant and parenting teens and their children through intentional relationships with trained adults and community partnerships.
- Juvenile Justice Ministry: Working with incarcerated and at-risk young people, giving them the chance to develop mentoring relationships with caring adults, make healthy choices, and choose health environments.
- City Life: A relational, holistic, community-based ministry aimed at serving under-resourced youth and developing them to be emerging leaders where they live.
- Campus Life: Working with middle and high school students, this ministry combines healthy relationships with creative programming to practice help young people make positive choices, establish a solid foundation for life, and positively impact their schools. “We envision the long-term effects of these programs will be fewer young people in the juvenile system, stronger families, and students who are able to break the cycle of dysfunction, discover and embrace who God has created them to be, and become productive citizens as they are mentored and integrated into society,” according to Ron Riemersma, Badgerland Youth for Christ executive director. “As the volunteers, staff commitment and awareness of these programs continues to grow, we are looking forward to a continued, long-term impact with a growing number of students.”
Established in 1974, Badgerland Youth for Christ provides programs in Fond du Lac, Waupun, Rosendale, Beaver Dam, West Bend, Stevens Point and Marshfield. More than 300 students benefit each week from various programs. “Thanks to programs like Badgerland Youth for Christ, area youth are being given a safe place to develop strong relationships with caring adults and other students,” according to Tara Rhodes, SSM Health vice president of Operations for St. Agnes Hospital, Ripon Community Hospital and Waupun Memorial Hospital. “We know that positive partnerships can help youth develop practices that help their emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health.”
To learn more, call Badgerland Youth for Christ at 920-923-1416 or visit badgerlandyfc.org.
In 2023, SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac’s community benefit ministry totaled more than $630,000 across the communities it serves. This investment helps ensure access to health care for patients who are uninsured or underinsured, train the next generation of health professionals to care for those in need, and fund programs to address the most pressing health needs of our communities.
