Back-to-School Success
School is starting again--already! If you’re like most families, that means a change in schedule from the less structured summer break.
The family is both the fundamental unit of society as well as the root of culture. It... is a perpetual source of encouragement, advocacy, assurance, and emotional refueling that empowers a child to venture with confidence into the greater world and to become all that he can be.
Marianne E. Neifert, Dr. Mom's Parenting Guide
When you see trauma, you will likely never see the scared little boy hiding under his sheets with his teddy bear or hear the tearful plea from a little girl who says her parents fight too much. By the time you see trauma, it often looks like angry and resentful teenagers who use their rage like a shield.
One of the first things you’ll notice about Z * is her very shy demeanor, but she hasn’t let that define who she is or what she wants to be: a designer for clothing supergiant, Adidas.
As one of the youngest members of the Youthworks! this summer (she will be a junior in high school come fall), Z says she wanted to be a part of the program in order to gain experience in money management, entrepreneurship and the overall concept of what it takes to run a business, things that will help her build her own brand in the future.
Did you know we have an outlet store in Boise?
That’s right. It’s a bargain hunter’s paradise. Everything you didn’t know you needed, all in one place. If you thought thrift store shopping was fun, outlet thrift store shopping is exhilarating.
Have you noticed we have a store within a store at a few Idaho Youth Ranch locations in Boise? We like to call them “Ruby’s.”
One way we chose to honor our founder, Reverend James Crowe and his wife, Ruby Carey Crowe, was to dedicate space in several stores to showcase unique and antique donations.
It’s the little things that can mean so much to a teenager whose only idea of “normal” is homelessness. Things like having a safe place to stay, regular meals, access to showers and clean clothes to change into- or going to your high school dance with someone you really like.
Rayanne was barely 16 when her mom’s alcoholism finally got so out of control that she couldn’t take care of her kids or herself. It was a shock to Rayanne, who had no idea her mom was drinking.
Idaho Youth Ranch thrift stores are all about reducing, reusing, and recycling—that’s the essence of the thrift store business model. And what makes it all work? YOU, our awesome donors and customers. All over the state, generous Idahoans donate clothes, household items, furniture, and even cars to IYR thrift stores, simplifying their lives and reducing waste. Our customers shop our stores for great deals on that merchandise, reusing those donated items in hundreds of ways. And IYR recycles scrap material we can’t sell in our stores, keeping more than 2,500 tons of material from entering Idaho landfills every year.
Generosity knows no age limit—no one is ever too old or too young to be a philanthropist! Thanks to some creativity and thoughtfulness on the part of our Coeur d’Alene thrift store manager, one of IYR’s youngest-ever donors recently learned about the joys of giving in a very personal way.
Education is so critical to future success in life that an early love of learning, especially reading, is one of the biggest advantages a child can have. To make sure as many Idaho kids as possible get that opportunity, the Idaho Youth Ranch launched a new literacy program called “Ranch Readers” through its thrift stores in February 2013. The response has been tremendous--parents, teachers, store staff, and especially kids across the state are enthusiastically on board.