Teens Won't Wait

Teens were the core of our services at our founding in 1967.  Serving teens continues to be one of our specialties and the place where our expertise and compassion are most needed in this community.

Teens are our heart and teens need help.

The teen years are a critical time for brain and social function and development.  Every teen is "at risk" in some capacity.  The three leading causes of death among adolescents are accidents, homicide and suicide.  Mental health treatment can prevent all of these disasters.

Many mental health disorders in teens go unnoticed or are misdiagnosed.  Left unaddressed, issues can lead to bigger issues and more serious problems that can plague a teenager for their lifetime.

The Teens Won't Wait project is an agency-wide initiative to increase our impact on teenagers in the community and achieve the funding necessary to treat and serve more of them than we ever have in the history of our agency.

The Teens Won't Wait project needs to raise $200,000 over current agency fundraising goals.  This is what it will take to ensure that teens in our community get the treatment, services, experiences and support they need.

Counseling - $100,000 - TriCity Family Services' family-centered counseling program is effective in reaching teens.  We just need to serve more of them.  Help us serve more teenagers and their families this year than ever before.  With this critical increase to our counseling funding, we will eliminate our wait list and ensure that teens truly won't wait to get help.

Group Programs - $50,000 - our innovative group programs engage teenagers, get them out of their element, and build self-esteem, positive peer relationships and life skills.  Those who participate demonstrate outstanding  outcomes across the board.  Some of these programs are:

• Wilderness Challenge Program - giving teens the opportunity to experience an 8-day therapeutic camping and canoeing adventure in the boundary waters of northern Minnesota and Canada.  With a follow-up group that spans the school year, Wilderness Challenge alums are connected to a positive peer group for the rest of their high school life.
• Young Woman's Retreat - giving teen girls a weekend retreat starting with emotional self-awareness, building to mindfulness skills and culminating in assurance statements and tools for the challenges they will face ahead.  This new and special weekend is already changing lives.
• Mindful Emotions - giving teenage girls peer support and a full array of tools to communicate, problem solve and practice healthy coping strategies.  This amazing 8-week class strengthens teen girls in critical ways for a lifetime.
• Smart Choices - giving teens an anger management class on their own terms.  Offered as an alternative to suspension by area junior high and high schools, this program also welcomes self-referrals from any family with teenagers.  Sessions are facilitated for one family alone, offering privacy, personal attention and the convenience of meeting on the home turf.

The Maudsley Treatment for Eating Disorders - $50,000 - family-centered treatment for eating disorders is a major service gap in our community.  Teens experiencing eating disorder issues currently have to travel out of our community to get the innovative and family-centered treatment they need.  TriCity Family Services is rising up to fill this gap.

If you agree Teens Won't Wait  

and mental health services to help them need to grow, 

give a gift today to support Teens Won't Wait.  

Make your donation here.

Click here to view pictures from our  

Teens Won't Wait Kick Off Reception 

held on Friday, January 27, 2012.