From Our Executive Director: Growing Pains

Summer activities are over. The kids are back in school, and Rock House Kids is back to a “normal” routine.

Summer 2024 was like no other. The kids had one or two field trips each month—everything from Lockwood Park to “Food Truck Tuesday.” There were also guest speakers and service projects. One summer blessing was when we baptized eleven kids who had asked Jesus into their hearts.

We were also able to see our “summer” kids. These kids return to Rockford to visit family and friends and return home for school. We love seeing them. Each summer is like having a family reunion. On the flip side, we lose some of our “school year” kids during the summer. They leave the Rockford area to be with family and friends. We miss them dearly and anticipate their return in the fall.

For a while, RHK, the organization, became one of the most frequent stops for UPS and trucking companies. The delivered items included tables, chairs, bookshelves, basketball hoops, and a carpetball game. Staff and volunteers came to RHK on the weekend to help assemble all the delivered items and set up the rooms in the new construction area.

RHK held a public ribbon cutting so the community could see what they helped RHK accomplish for the kids. The new area is better than our wildest dreams could have imagined. The classrooms, library, game room, and gym are a few of the highlights for the kids. When you tour the facility, you will see plaques on the wall from donors who made the expansion possible and tiles the kids had painted for the new area.

This summer, our teen program also grew. We were averaging twelve to fifteen teens each Tuesday and Thursday. Now, we are up to forty-five teens on average! With this quick growth comes growing pains.

We now have more high schoolers with younger siblings in middle school attending the same nights. The older siblings watch their younger siblings and feel responsible for their behavior. This is a difficult position for them to be in. They used to have their “own” RHK time, and now they do not. We need to protect their time.

One of the most concerning growing pains is the need for volunteers, especially for the Thursday evening teen program. We need at least six more volunteers to run the evening efficiently. We had to close one Thursday evening due to a lack of volunteers, which goes against everything we are trying to do. It is hard to give the teens a place of safety if we cannot have the doors open for them to come.

One afternoon, I received a call from one of our teens. We spoke for over an hour. They let me know what they did that day and their plans for the rest of the weekend. While we talked, they mentioned how boring it was when we had to shut down on Thursday and how much they looked forward to seeing their friends. They missed having fun. They felt as though something was missing that week for them.

You can help RHK through the growing pains. Do you feel a pull to come and build relationships with the teens? If not, will you spread the word about the need at RHK? We need your help. What we do at RHK is possible because of the volunteers. We need all hands on deck to make sure every kid who wants to come to RHK can come.

Blessings,

Dee Lacny, Executive Director, Rock House Kids