Freedom for Youth Ministries opened its downtown ministry in Perry in 2013, and Diana Yepez, site director of the Perry center, stopped by the Tuesday lunch meeting of the Perry Kiwanis to discuss the organization and her role within it.
Yepez, a Marshalltown native and recent Iowa State University graduate, began work just over one year ago at the Freedom for Youth center at 1210 Second St. in Perry.
Freedom for Youth Ministries started in 2003 in Des Moines. Its purpose is to create a safe place for children to go after school that teaches about God, develops talents and trains kids in leadership, Yepez told the Kiwanians.
“Freedom for Youth Ministries empowers youth across Iowa through the love of Jesus Christ to break bondages, discover their God-given talents and lead transformed lives,” she said.
She said Freedom for Youth Ministries teaches young people to set and pursue goals so that ultimately they will be employable and productive citizens.
The Perry site is open Monday through Wednesday and serves students from kindergarten through high school. They provide young people a place for free time to pursue activities together, such as Bible time, and they provide a meal or substantial snack, offer help with homework and lead a a skill class, where someone introduces them to a project.
Yepez stated that they are looking for volunteers to help with this ministry. A main need is to have people volunteer to share their talents with the children and expose them to skills and ideas. They also need people or organizations to provide the children a meal or substantial snack. Of course, financial donations are also welcome, she said.
Yepez said Freedom for Youth wants to work with individuals, churches and other organizations within the Perry community.
The children have been hosting Saturday breakfasts for the community, and putting on such event helps the children learn how to plan, organize and execute. They do all the work, she said, and this helps them earn money for the group and themselves.
Yepez said when the students see someone coming in to the breakfast, they get excited about being able to serve the customer. She said they hope to offer some evening dinners this coming year.
In 2018 they will be starting a Giving Tree. The tree will travel around to different locations in the community each month. There will be snowflakes on the tree. People or organizations can take a snowflake, which will have a need on it. These can be mailed back to Freedom for Youth Ministries in Perry or someone will pick these up.
Currently there are 10 middle school students, 15 elementary students and four or five high school students participating in the Freedom for Youth Ministries in Perry.
