60 Years of Transforming Lives

The Paul Anderson Youth Home is overjoyed and blessed to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year. This fully accredited and licensed home offers a second chance to young men in crisis. Tucked away on a beautiful piece of property in Vidalia, it’s a special place that’s an alternative to jail for troubled young men and boys who need a second chance.

Paul Anderson, who was declared “the strongest man in the world” after the 1956 Melbourne Olympic games, was a gold medal winner and weightlifting legend. To this day, no one has exceeded or even matched his feat of lifting 6,270 lb. in a back lift.

Anderson used his fame to promote his faith in Jesus Christ and to promote youth physical fitness. While speaking at a reform school, he saw young offenders incarcerated with hardened criminals, he felt led to help young people.

Thus in 1961, Paul rode a bicycle from Vidalia, Georgia to Omaha, Nebraska while Glenda followed in a van. They were publicizing the opening of the Paul Anderson Youth Home, a Christian residential program and on-campus school for young men between the ages of 16 and 21 struggling with behavioral problems and issues of anger, depression, or drugs.

The mission has remained the same for the past 60 years, as has the need for alternatives to prison. If necessary, each young man in the Home’s care receives counseling, academic assistance to complete their education, job training, and substance abuse therapy. The success stories span decades, with graduates found all over the country.

“Rather than facing a life of crime, jail time, and poor adjustment, young people need continued support and counseling as well as structure and discipline, which our Home has provided for decades,” said Glenda Anderson Leonard. “Our boys who have completed the program are living examples of how this ministry turns lives around and helps them become men of character who are an asset to their communities.”

The Home continues to thrive and with wisdom and guidance from our Heavenly Father, looks forward to a long future of transforming the lives of young men.