“The LORD is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness.  Instead He is patient with you…” - 2 Peter 3:9a

If you’ve followed my story thus far, you have heard my own personal journey to start a home for teenage mothers.  You’ve heard the story of how I met my co-founder, how my parents inspired me, and how my grandmother inspired me.  My hope in taking you on this journey is not that you learn how to start a non-profit or how to find your calling in life.  It is my desire to show you what God can do when you try to be fully surrendered to him (I never want to claim to be fully surrendered because we are all always a work in progress).  On that note, you know the backstory of what inspired me. I’m currently in a new season of life and wanted to tell you what God (and the devil) does when you step out in faith.

This is the continuation of what happened in that first year and how God pruned me and the devil attacked as I figured out how to start a non-profit.  Many people don’t know all the details of my childhood. My family was from the Appalachian mountains and moved into inner city St. Louis when I was 6 years old.  We lived there until right before I turned 15-years-old. I grew up around people of all ages and races - especially African-American people. To put that into context, I am from one of the most Caucasian, blonde hair, blue-eyed places in the United States.  I never felt different though. I grew up hearing stories from my best friend’s mother about how blessed we were to have Martin Luther King Jr. so that we could be friends.

When I was turning 15, we moved to Milwaukee.  It didn’t take long for me to notice that I was white.  My family was followed around a store on the north side of Milwaukee and were told to leave the neighborhood because we were white.  We were told our lives were in danger. This was a new experience. Fast forward to today and I have continued to see a pattern of segregation.  Many people would say I am very “culturally confused”. I love the African - American community and many of my clients as a social worker in Milwaukee for the last four years were from this area in Milwaukee.  However, after work, I would go to a predominantly Caucasian/Hispanic suburban church in MIlwaukee.      

Throughout this back and forth, I saw much dissonance in the city.  During the day, I would be with African - American women in a community known for an infant mortality rate that is the highest in the nation and equivalent to a third world county.  One of the zip codes, 53206, is the worst for incarceration in the world. There is an African-American male unemployment rate of 50% in the city. HIV is a public health crisis and very few are aware of this.  One of the highest risk factors for infant mortality was being a teenage parent. Also, being from this area in town and being African - American were other risks for infant mortality.  

Sitting in the pews of a church in a very safe area created what my pastor would call a “divine discontent”.  I grew frustrated with the lack of knowledge of what happened blocks away. It was frustrating to sit in a safe area while everyone right down the road suffered.  I grew up around many African-Americans and suddenly I was around very few - except for clients. This next chapter of my story is how God pruned me in my first year of creating the home for teenage mothers to love both cultures and learn to bring them together.

The chapter you will be hearing about in the next few months is that first year.  It’s the story of how God heard my prayers from inside a suburban church and answered my calling to a very different neighborhood. He answered in His timing - not my own.  God took the people I would have imagined least likely and built a team for me. He shook up a church and gave me some of the most amazing people to help shape this ministry.  God started with one young adult, African-American dude with dreads that made me feel at home in a suburban church. Then, he added three young adult Hispanic men. Lastly, He brought in a young adult white man all the way back to Milwaukee from the Middle East.  That is how God built my team. This group of young men continues to grow day by day. It has expanded and given me one of the best spiritual support systems and community I could ask for. I never imagined starting a non-profit for teenage mothers turning into a community of young adult men of all races in the most segregated city in the United States helping me on this journey.  Stay tuned for how this adventure unfolds and how I learned to love all the cultures (and genders) in my city - thanks to Jesus and the people He gave me.

Jesus doesn’t care about labels and we shouldn’t either - together all of us can change the world for Jesus when we stand UNITED.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alycia Marie is a free-spirited wanderer and follower of Christ. She spends her days exploring around the city with the unique family that God has given her. At this time, she is currently working with non-profits and churches to tackle rebuilding families in the city of Milwaukee. In her free time, she plays with preschoolers, writes in coffee shops, and travels the world.