"Together, We Can Be Really Powerful"

Leelanau County's LIFT offers safe spaces, outdoor activities, and connection points for local teens

By Ren Brabenec | Oct. 28, 2023

What started as a humble effort to create a safe space for teens in Leelanau has become a county-wide movement.

Leelanau Investing For Teens (LIFT) is an organization whose mission is “dedicated to empowering local youth to discover their strengths by investing in their evolution, autonomy, and character.” From its soft launch in 2014 at the home of founder Rebekah TenBrink to its official founding in 2017 to its far-reaching impact today, the organization has touched the lives of over 1,000 middle and high school students.

Throughout the expansion, the underlying theme has always been to bring teens in, give them a safe space for fun and meaningful activities outside of school and home life, and provide them with mentors, friends, and allies.

“We advocate for Leelanau’s youth by providing programming that’s both fun and educational,” says TenBrink. “Sometimes it’s a rock climbing excursion, other times it’s a beach trip. Sometimes it’s bringing mentors in for life skills sessions, arts, cooking, or tutoring. Sometimes, it’s just being someone the teens can talk to.”

Then Versus Now

As a free out-of-school program for 6th through 12th graders, LIFT has grown since 2017 to provide daily activities for middle schoolers at Suttons Bay, Northport, and Glen Lake schools all year. For high school teens, LIFT meets them where they are, assisting with homework, chaperoning field trips, helping to host school socials, organizing weekend events, and checking in with teens at school.

2017 wasn’t that long ago, but a lot has changed on a societal level since then, and LIFT aims to support teens with whatever they need. “LIFT has shifted and grown a lot in recent years,” says TenBrink. “In the beginning we just wanted to create a safe space for students where they could interact with other teens and adults, where they could engage in fun, safe, and meaningful activities.”

The organization has taken on a new role in Leelanau seven years later, TenBrink says. “Now it’s more of a community movement. We have adults from across the county who volunteer. We interact with middle and high school students in school, after school, and throughout the summer. Sectors of the county now have permanent programming for teens, and we aim to take that permanency county-wide in the coming years.”

As an example of that lasting impact, 2023 marked the second summer LIFT was able to provide full-time, five-days-per-week programming for teens, including transportation from teens’ homes to scheduled activities and then back home at the end of the day.

Supported by the Suttons Bay Chamber of Commerce, activities included day trips, like taking students to the coffee side of Leelanau Distillery & Coffee Shop for a day-long workshop to make fun beverages with baristas.

Other day trips saw LIFT teens attending the Wheatland Festival in Remus and ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Sometimes, the events are centered around an activity, like a beach day where teens could get out on the water with clear-bottom kayaks, paddleboards, and hydrobikes.

Putting Students First

Much of LIFT’s programming includes student-led initiatives centered around what students say they need most from the organization. Olli Craker, a 17-year-old senior at Suttons Bay High, has been with LIFT for over a year, citing the community support offered by the organization as her main reason for becoming so involved.

“I love that I can interact with other people my age and go do activities I wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to do,” says Olli, noting the rock climbing, skiing, paintballing, and MMA training she’s gotten to do through the program. “I’ve also made friendships I wouldn’t have made without LIFT,” she says.

Those are no small feats. Gen Z is often called “the loneliest generation,” with 73 percent feeling lonely sometimes or always, according to a Cigna survey. Mental health concerns are at the forefront for this generation, as are negative side effects of too much time on social media.

Olli sees those issues and others up close and says she worries for her peers in a modern landscape rife with incentives for unhealthy habits and patterns.

“Teens are very susceptible to influence, so it’s important to ensure that influence is positive, not negative,” she says. “Too many of my peers are influenced to use drugs, vape, and engage in other activities that are bad for them. But LIFT provides an alternative, a positive influence and a safe place that can put students on better, healthier paths.”

Olli plans to attend Western Michigan University for graphic design and acting after graduation, but until then, she’s happy to spend her free time with her LIFT community. “I enjoy every moment I’m there with them,” she says.

Lilly Gmoser-Duhamel, a 12-year-old student at Northport, got involved with LIFT programming one year ago after having lunch with Alana Slanec, LIFT’s Northport Program Coordinator.

“I have met new friends and had new experiences that I never would have had without LIFT,” says Lilly. “Some things I have most enjoyed were the end of the school year party when we played volleyball.”

Like Olli, Lilly also thinks about kids her age who don’t have the support they need to cope with unhealthy circumstances.

“There’s too much technology in our faces,” Lilly says. “And there are some households where kids don’t feel safe. But LIFT gets kids outside and into new experiences they wouldn’t experience otherwise. We’re not zoning out in front of our phones when we’re doing something with LIFT.”

Creating a Bright Future

On the surface, the events and activities hosted by LIFT are fun, engaging, healthy activities for Leelanau’s youth. But there’s also a deeper meaning behind the programming.

“Our students often come to us with what’s on their mind, leaning on LIFT staff for whatever they need support with,” says TenBrink. “We’re not their parents, and we’re not their teachers. That makes a difference. Our students have our confidence, which means we sometimes hear firsthand what’s going on in their lives.”

LIFT trains each volunteer, mentor, and staff member to show up for teens, even when life at school or home is challenging. “We’re trained to listen and support teens first and foremost,” says TenBrink. “But we also know where to send students for help during especially hard times.”

As the organization expands, more volunteers are needed, and TenBrink encourages folks in the county to sign up, whether they have a specific skill or can just help out with chaperoning events. And if you happen to be a safe driver, all the better.

“A critical roadblock right now is transportation,” TenBrink explains. “Leelanau’s rural nature means many teens simply don’t have a way to get to our events, meetings, or after-school sessions. We have one vehicle that seats seven teens, and volunteers do show up for us to provide transportation, but as we expand across the county, we need help with vehicles and volunteer drivers to ensure the simple act of getting to an activity or event is not what’s preventing a teen from being involved.”

Still, TenBrink feels all those growing pains are just a sign of big things to come. And while today’s LIFT programming and needs look quite different from 2014’s afternoon pizza parties at the TenBrink house, the message and mission are the same.

“There’s a continued understanding and realization of the importance of working together for our youth,” TenBrink tells us. “Together, we can be really powerful. Positive change in the community is very real, but we all have to work together. It’s about showing up for students every day and putting in the work to ensure their future is a bright one. It’s our future too, after all. And we have to create it together.”

Learn more at liftyouthsb.com.