Parent LIFE of Badgerland Youth for Christ

01/24/2025

To the public Parent Life has the new face of Krista Koester advocating, loving & supporting the teen parents in our community. However to the teen parents themselves Krista has been there all along. For the last almost 8 years Krista has been volunteering her time in the teen parent program on Tuesday nights. She is not new to this endeavor. She personally mentored a teen mom through the process of applying for a Habitat for Humanity home and does her due diligence in giving practical parenting and relationship advice. She is a wife and mother to 4 BOYS, (2 of which practically grew up in Parent Life) and has run her own in home daycare for many years. Her forthright, no nonsense, humorous, personality has brought so much depth and laughter into our group over the years. So for those of you who haven’t been behind the scenes, here is a look back so you know why we are so excited to have her as our newest YFC staff member and Parent Life Director

01/24/2025

A note of how Teen Parents has impacted my life
August 28, 2013 at 11:35pm
When I first came to Fond du Lac two years ago. I was homeless, pregnant with my 2nd child, feeling alone and hopeless. The father of my child abandoned us. The only one I could count on was my mother, but that was limited because she lived and worked an hour away. I came to Fond du Lac because there was a temporary homeless shelter for pregnant women called New Beginnings. I had NO HOME, NO JOB, NO GOALS , NO LICENSE, NO CAR, and definitely NO DRIVE TO DO BETTER because there was NO HOPE.
While in the hospital giving birth to my daughter I received a gift bag with an invitation to attend a group called Teen Parents. Then while living at New Beginnings I heard about a "Mothers Day Spa Night" hosted by Teen Parents. I was depressed to the max and decided that a spa night was just what the doctor ordered. That's when I met Misty and the entire Teen Parents Group. They all shared their stories , and even "gawked " and "awed" at my birth story and my two week old daughter. For once in my life, I felt surrounded by love and kindness. Someone, besides my own mother, actually cared about my children and I .
Teen Parents helped me to understand my childs's development, provided a ton of hints and tips to help me to better parent my children, and even helped me set my own goals and planned my "baby steps" to complete those goals. They outfitted me with my very own "Mommy Manual with all my important info so I could feel confident and in control.
Ever since then, I have been going to Teen Parents whenever I am able to. With the help and encouragement of Misty and Doug Winkelman, and the entire Teen Parent Group, I have GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL, ENROLLED IN COLLEGE, gotten my DRIVERS LICENSE, gotten MY OWN VEHICLE, got MY OWN APARTMENT, and learned how to BUDGET. I sincerely doubt I would have done all that without the help, love and support from Teen Parents.
They were there for me when nobody else was; they were there when I had my seizures and lost both my children and had to give up my dream and drop out of cosmetology school. They were there for me when I was reunified with my daughter just months ago, and they are still here for me while I still patiently await the return home of my son.
THANK YOU to all who support and give to this program and all of its partnerships -United Way, New Beginnings, and ADVOCAP Without Teen Parents I would clearly not be where I am today! Tia Petts

12/23/2024

Celebrating 20 Years of Impact: Our Top 20 Highlights from 2024!

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Fond du Lac Area Women’s Fund, and we’re thrilled to share 20 of our top highlights from 2024 as we close out this incredible milestone year. These moments reflect the heart of our mission and the amazing people who make it all possible.

✨ Highlight #2: Girl-Powered Giving ✨
This year, we launched our very first cohort of Girl-Powered Giving, bringing together high school girls from across Fond du Lac County! Hosted at the Children's Museum of Fond du Lac, this incredible program gave students the opportunity to interview 13 local nonprofits, engage in a service activity together, and make a real impact by reviewing 14 grant applications from our local area.

The participants awarded grants to two deserving community partners: New Beginnings Pregnancy Care Center Inc. and the Parent LIFE of Badgerland Youth for Christ. The overwhelming positive feedback from participants has inspired us to work towards continuing to build this program in the years to come, and we hope to engage our supporters - all of you - in making this a reality.

We are so proud of the young women who participated. Their desire to create meaningful change fills us with hope. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this inaugural year a success—you are helping us inspire the next generation of changemakers!

Stay tuned as we continue to reveal more highlights in the coming days. Together, we’ve made a difference for 20 incredible years, and we’re just getting started!

11/28/2024

10/10/2024

Help us spread the word! Tomorrow we will be at the Fond du Lac Family YMCA and Fond du Lac Public Library to register single adults for the Holy Family Warming Shelter when it opens on November 1. Those looking to register must bring identification.

Please note: You do not need to pre-register to stay at the shelter. People can register when the shelter opens each night. Pre-registration helps the first few nights of the season to go more smoothly.

10/01/2024

🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁NOW THRU OCT 31: APPLY FOR CHRISTMAS ASSISTANCE FOR YOUR CHILDREN
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