Seen, Known, Loved: A Letter from Eric
Shelter from Life’s Storms
Committed to Healing
Life Changing Relationships
Overcoming Obstacles, Together
Surrounding youth from crisis with unconditional relationships, tools that anticipate their needs and dreams, and a vision for their restored future.
Together, we can build an expansive pathway to healing for youth from crisis in our community!
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Over 400 youth & their children impacted 2,040 meals provided 1,058 life skills classes taught 7,085 hours of coaching provided 380 hours of onsite trauma therapy provided
I recently showed up to an event slightly late and hurried, walking into the room without giving forethought to needing to find a seat. I quickly scanned the room looking for an open spot or familiar face.
Making eye contact with me, a friend motioned me toward his table and pulled out the chair next to him. Simple, but powerful.
It’s said that we all walk into the room looking for someone looking for us. We do this so innately that it’s easy to overlook our deep need to be seen, known, and loved. And, if we’re not careful, it’s even easier to overlook this need in others.
While we all experience loneliness at times, many of us have churches, workplaces, schools, sports, clubs, and families where we experience a sense of connectedness.
Immerse was born out of the painful awareness that youth from crisis often have no one looking for them. No one pulling out a chair. No one motioning them over, no one wanting them to come closer without a catch.
This reality fuels our desire to create spaces, tools, and relationships that tangibly show God’s kindness, clearly communicating “we want you here!” to each young person that shows up.
It’s exciting to see new mentors step forward to demonstrate this invitation to our youth in a very clear way. These unconditional relationships are foundational to the future success and health of youth who truly need it.
Thank you to each person who has given, prayed, volunteered, and more to make Immerse a daily reality. I hope you’re encouraged by the updates shared within this letter, I’m excited to open The Station with you later this year! Let’s keep pulling out chairs, and make room for more youth from crisis to belong as they pursue growth, healing, and transformation.
Toward an expansive pathway,
Eric Gilmore, Executive Director
Christy began volunteering at Immerse in May of 2022 after shopping with one of our donors, Live Thankfully, who shared information about our organization. Just a few months later, Christy became a mentor.
As a result of a challenging time in her youth and young adult years, Christy understands how hard it can be for youth from crisis to begin their life as an adult with healthy and attainable goals. When asked her favorite part about being a mentor, she said,
“I love developing friendships with the youth and being their cheerleader. I love walking alongside them as they navigate obstacles and figure out how to overcome.”
Like the rest of our team and volunteers, Christy knows that sometimes all our youth need is someone to believe in them as they learn to believe in themselves. Jasmine, one of Christy’s former mentees, is a testament to this.
Having recently graduated from CNA school, Jasmine reflects back on her time with Christy and Immerse, saying, “Immerse has been so much support and that alone is what really pushed me to get out of crisis into stability. I never had someone who would cheer me to the finish line while also coaching me through the mile.”
The dream of The Station would not be a reality if it wasn’t for those who have partnered with us in doing Whatever It Takes to protect the next generation. Thank you to each of you in our community who have prayed, donated, volunteered, and showed continued support.
The Station, Arkansas’ first shelter created specifically for youth ages 18-24, will offer youth in our community protection for now and possibilities for their future.
Our mission with The Station is to protect youth during a vulnerable time and integrate them into Immerse’s proven youth programming. The progress that has been made over the past several months is a testament to the years of praying, planning, and preparing.
• 15 suites including a bedroom & bathroom
• Shared kitchen
• Recreation space
• Counseling accommodations
• Outdoor facilities
We believe supportive relationships with healthy adults are vital for transformation in the lives of youth from crisis. Are you ready to explore the impact you could make by becoming an Immerse mentor, volunteer, or supporter?
It’s no secret that our big goal here at Immerse Arkansas is to build an expansive pathway to healing for youth from crisis in our state!
Together with you, our team, and our community of donors, we are privileged to support youth ages 14-24 as they heal from past trauma and prepare for adulthood.
We believe that when we surround youth with unconditional relationships, a vision for their restored future, and tools that anticipate their needs and dreams, we can create a climate for healing, growth, and transformation.
We have witnessed firsthand the need for high-quality and trauma-focused therapeutic support for young adults in our community, which is why we are excited to officially launch our Therapy Fellowship Program!
As part of this new program, we are looking forward to adding more trauma therapists and an additional recreational facilitator to our Immerse team.
Together, they will serve our youth across our sites and receive training in best practices for helping youth who have experienced trauma.
These therapists will guide youth towards healing and wholeness through top-notch individual and group counseling, as well as interactive and innovative transformational experiences such as hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding, and more.
We are grateful for the support of the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas. Because of their generous grant, we will be able to make an even bigger impact as we build an expansive pathway to healing for youth from crisis in Arkansas. Thank you again to Blue & You for believing in our mission and helping us expand our impact.
As we continue to build an expansive pathway to healing, we are thrilled to announce the expansion of our therapy staff here at Immerse.
Our therapists serve our youth by addressing their underlying trauma and creating a climate for healing, growth, and transformation.
We are currently looking for licensed therapists with a passion for guiding youth and young adults toward healing and transformation. If you or someone you know would be a good fit to join our therapy team, scan the QR code now for full details about the positions or to apply now.
Immerse’s Recreation Manager, Justin Kirkes, explains how recreational therapy empowers youth to overcome!
Recreational therapy is the intentional facilitation of recreational experiences to help reduce tension, stress, and anxiety, support in the recovery of mental and emotional capacity, build confidence, and develop social skills.
Here at Immerse, we offer a variety of intentionally designed recreational activities, from weekly events to grander experiences. Each experience is intended to foster a sense of community, help youth grow in confidence, increase coping skills for managing stress and physical health, and provide youth with normalized, age-appropriate experiences.
These experiences, combined with deep mentoring relationships and peer encouragement, help build and reinforce the life skills and personal beliefs necessary for youth to overcome significant obstacles in life.
What is a win you’ve witnessed as an Immerse Recreational Therapist?
One of our weekly transformational experiences is gardening. Being outside in a garden and experiencing the seasonal rhythms of nature can be an island of calm in an otherwise tumultuous day for our youth.
Last fall, our youth worked to transition our garden bed at the Oak Forest Community Garden from a
summer garden to a fall/winter garden. We pulled all the summer crops, weeded the garden bed, and planted sprouts of collard greens, dill, and annual flowers.
Later in the season, our youth were able to harvest some of the Collard Greens and prepare a dish of greens, which was served as part of a meal in the OC.
We have many goals with our gardening program. We long for youth to see and experience growth, as well as practice the mindfulness and peace of daily cultivation. But if we do it right, youth also have the opportunity to participate in the fruit of the labor, the cycle of harvest, and nourishment.
How have you seen recreational therapy open up youth to further healing?
In the past year, Immerse youth have collectively hiked over 106 miles. They have sown, grown, harvested, and prepared vegetables with their own hands, some even sharing that garden experience with their children. They have experienced travel that, in the words of one youth, ”has reform[ed] my idea of freedom.”
They have written and shared poetry, waded in the Buffalo River and the Gulf of Mexico, and interpreted sculptures in the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden.
The 170+ intentionally designed recreational activities and transformational experiences provided this past year have helped restore youth confidence, increased youth coping skills for managing stress and physical health, increased youth willingness to try new or challenging opportunities, and provided youth with normalized, age-appropriate experiences.
Our Trauma Therapist, Jake Ritter recalls a story of how he has seen our Immerse therapy programs impact the youth in our community.
Jake, one of Immerse’s trauma therapists, worked with a young man experiencing high levels of anger and aggression that often led to negative consequences around school, work, and relationships.
The young person was hesitant to participate in "traditional" therapy due to past experiences in psychiatric hospitals growing up, so a creative approach was necessary to address and talk about mental health.
“We would often go off-site to meet over lunch, meet at his home, or just drive up and down Fair Park (a street near Immerse) for a change of scene while discussing his day to day interactions and concerns” Jake said.
After a while the young man would start attending Transformational Experiences like yoga, rock
climbing, and gardening. Jake says “Over time, the "walls" began to lower and one day he was able to provide some insight to where he believed his anger originated, unresolved trauma involving childhood loss/abandonment from his biological family around the age of 6.”
This is just the beginning of this young man’s healing journey and it’s through tools like trauma therapy that lives can be changed forever.
Youth rock climbing at Little Rock Climbing Center
A core factor of our Immerse mission is surrounding youth from crisis with supportive relationships— including professional relationships.
Our Immerse team is excited to announce the official launch of our first-ever employment program which will assist our youth with finding and retaining employment.
As a part of our employment program, youth will participate in a month of job readiness workshops followed by an 8-12 week paid internship. Once completed, youth will have the opportunity to celebrate all their hard work with a graduation from the program.
We recently kicked off our new employment program with the Inaugural Youth Job and Resource Fair and what a success it was! We had 20 companies show up, 35 youth attend, 6 youth were offered jobs or interviews on the spot, and 1 youth already hired! Our next Job Fair will be June 11th with a focus on medical, dental, and 2 and 4-year colleges.
If your business is interested in participating, email our Employment Coordinator, Kamesha Lindsey at klindsey@immersearkansas.org.
We’re so excited about the success of this event and look forward to even more impact in the future.