We began this program calling it Step Up Muskegon. Shon Cook had the idea to work to give some community non profits a little financial boost as well as some exposure and Scherdel Sales and Technology jumped on board. One day, Shon called and said, "Did you know there's already a "Step Up Muskegon"? "Um....no." So, we became "Step it Up Muskegon". Ta-Da! Same benefit and exposure, just a little shift in names because Step Up Muskegon was here first and their mission is a solid one.
Step Up Muskegon was formed in 2015 as a group of people realized that the number of kids in Muskegon who were aging out of the foster care system was dramatically high. 400-450 of these young adults or so turn 18 and the foster system is no longer there for them in the capacity they are used to. Step Up also serves young people from other vunerable life circumstances. If you think back to when you were 18, were you ready to head out on your own? That's a pretty young age in today's world and sometimes the skills needed to make the transition to indpendent living are not quite there yet. Step Up Muskegon is a faith based organization who's core values are - "With wisdom requested from and given by God, we commit to the core values of compassion, integrity, and empowerment. These values are expressed in our relationships with each other and the community we serve."
Step Upo Muskegon operates 2 homes in town, one for men and one for women. They share some common areas like kitchen, dining and living spaces, but bedrooms are private and the communal living areas are to encourage responsibility, community and cooperation. There are more than one way yoiu can help with their mission. If you are able to mentor, awesome. If you can help financially, that's amazing, if you can share their story through here of their website, that's great, but there's one attention grabber on their site that really satands out. If nothing else, you can help by just a prayer.
Today, we are joined by Dick Kamps who is the Board President for the Step Up organization as well as Shon Cook and Miriam Eckhart from Scherdel Sales and Technology to learn a little more about Step Up. Take a listen.
You can click on the image below to visit Step Up Muskegon online and learn more about the organization and the great work they do to assure that those leaving foster care find a way to transition into adulthood and on to hopefully a succesful and happy life, because a caring community took the time to invest in them through their work.
