#YFCBetheStory: Youth For Christ in New York City Gives Youth Creative Outlet Through Art
YFC NYC Plans to Share ‘Inside Out’ Art Projects Around the City, While Helping to Feed Staff Members of At-Risk Youth Facilities
April 28, 2020
NEW YORK—Over the past three years, Daniel Sanabria, a leader within Youth For Christ USA (YFC) New York City, was seeing incredible things happening between mentors and youth. As YFC NYC’s presence in the city grew, one-on-one mentoring and Bible studies at facilities in the Bronx and Brooklyn for troubled and at-risk youth were becoming more frequent—and more powerful.
“The activity was amazing,” Sanabria said. “We were consistently connecting with kids. It was alive. It was exciting. Every week, there was something new.”
But then, COVID-19 hit New York City—hard—and everything stopped.
Sanabria and his team knew there was still ministry through YFC to be done, so they began to creatively pivot and serve people when and where they needed it most.
One of their first action steps was to email each of the staff they had been working alongside in the facilities to tell them they were praying for them and to ask them what was needed most.
“They were just so grateful for us reaching out,” Sanabria said.
What came out of those conversations was the desire for youth to have a creative outlet. Born of that need was the “Inside Out” initiative. “Inside” these facilities, youth are creating art projects and posters that will eventually find their way “out” into the city.
On a recent gray afternoon, Sanabria and his team members picked up art supplies at one of the few office supply stores they could find open. They packed the van and headed to the facility that would kick off the project. But tucked between the poster board and paints was also a pasta dinner prepared for the staff who are working daily with the youth.
The art project within this first facility has been named “Give Life, Give Hope, Give Love, Give Peace.” Using the art supplies from YFC NYC, youth will create posters that will then be combined into larger pieces of art and “plastered” around the city, Sanabria said.
Sanabria added that YFC NYC plans to expand the art project into the other facilities where the ministry works. Throughout the coronavirus crisis, YFC leaders in the city have learned that many more need help and support during this challenging time, including facility staff, families and volunteer mentors.
Anyone, he said, can visit the YFC NYC website and contact the ministry for help picking up groceries or getting urgent supplies, running errands, receiving a friendly phone call or asking for prayer.
To share some of this impact, YFC NYC is planning a virtual “See the Story” event to tell compelling stories of kids whose lives have been changed by God through the ministry of Youth For Christ. At 7 p.m. April 30, guests can join the one-hour online event to learn how God is truly changing the lives of youth in New York City. Register or learn more here.
Through a new way to share stories called #YFCBetheStory, YFC is spreading the word across the nation about how YFC chapters, like YFC NYC, are making a difference in their communities.
Visit Youth For Christ’s website at www.yfc.net, its Facebook and Instagram pages, Twitter feed @yfcusa or on Vimeo.
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To interview a Youth For Christ representative, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Patrick Benner, 610.584.1096, ext. 104, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.
