OUR HISTORY
In 2003, the ministry began in a small building near downtown Des Moines where more than 250 homeless teens came to be loved and hear the truth of God's Word.
In 2005 God's plan to reach more youth continued to unfold, as Freedom opened the Promise House for young adult men ready to change their lives.
In May 2006, the ministry acquired a six-acre property in inner-city Des Moines. The campus underwent major renovations and, in 2007, we launched elementary, middle, and high school programs. The campus now includes buildings for woodworking, employment training welding, auto mechanics, art, culinary training, computers, worship, and large group activities.
In 2009, Freedom built and opened a 5,000-square foot transitional home for young women in addition to starting a statewide outreach ministry to help towns across Iowa reach youth with gospel-centered programs. In December 2016 the residential program of Freedom for Youth Ministries closed.
Additional Freedom Centers were founded in Mitchellville (2010), Stuart (2012), Perry (2013), Winterset (2015), Knoxville (2016), Huxley (2016), and Carlisle/Hartford (2017). We also have church-sponsored sites in the Des Moines Metro. These areas include Johnston (2014), Downtown Des Moines (2015), East Des Moines (2015), and the Drake Park Neighborhood (2017). Knoxville, Carlisle, and Newton centers are still in operation.
In 2011, the ministry founded as an enterprise, Freedom Blend Coffee. It’s a coffee business that empowers high-school youth and young adults through Christ-centered employment training. In 2014, Freedom for Youth purchased a car wash located on the west end of the Des Moines campus and began renovating the structure into a retail coffee house that opened September 2017. Freedom Construction Services was founded in 2015 as an employment training enterprise.
In 2016, Freedom received funding to purchase Scores Bar, next to the coffee shop. We got straight to work on a design plan and have secured approval from the city to bulldoze the bar down and start construction on a Children's Center. In June, 2023, the Board of Directors announced the start of construction of the Children’s Center.
In 2017, Freedom acquired the Bike World Warehouse west of the Hickman campus. which today houses Freedom Construction Services, a social enterprise focused on employment training programs in the trades skilled trades (electrical, carpentry, HVAC, flooring, and welding skills). The program began in 2020 with six employees and the first class graduated in October 2021. Freedom Construction Services continues to introduce young Iowans to the skilled trades and connect them to partner organizations in the construction industry.
In the summer of 2017, a new program called Freedom Quest was born. This traveling ministry visits rural communities during the summer to help pave the way to planting new Freedom Centers across Iowa. Today, Freedom Quest is the outreach tool for the Iowa Christian Youth Network (ICYN), formed by Freedom for Youth Ministries in 2021 to activate and support the church to reach unchurched youth across the state.
Today, Freedom for Youth Ministries delivers and supports through training and curriculum after-school and summer programs to more than 500 youth across Iowa, including programs in Des Moines, Carlisle, Knoxville, and Newton and ICYN member locations around Iowa. Young people are discovering their God-given talents and planning their future. Some graduates are attending four-year colleges, community colleges, or trade schools, or starting careers in health care, manufacturing, construction, and ministry.
Throughout its history, Freedom for Youth Ministries has seen God consistently provide all we need. Consequently, Freedom has no long-term debt, and all donor contributions go toward supporting programs rather than paying off debt.
Click here to watch a video about our story!