The Western Montana Fair offers a range of vendors to the community, Adult Teen Challenge is just one. They’re on a mission to provide free support for those struggling with addiction.
“When you come from a family of addiction, youn realize that’s something you want to help prevent in other people’s lives,” Tasha Yourdon, an intern at Adult Teen Challenge in Missoula said. Yourdon completed the year-long recovery program recently.
She says this approach is just one of many Adult Teen Challenge applies to help many women like herself. Now she is giving back her time.
“I'm passionate about helping the women and the children that are in this program and the things that I know that they go through,” Yourdon said.
What makes Adult Teen Challenge unique is its support system, which comes at no cost to residents.
No bill means no burden, and this is made possible through fundraising efforts, like their thrift store, or setting up a booth at this year’s fair. They also use this space to give back to those in need by offering help bags.
“Part of our program is doing outreach in the community,” Yourdon says “and so our outreach coordinator puts together these bags.
They have things that we know the homeless go without like socks or gloves or scarves, hygiene things like shampoos, conditioner, body washes, and she just puts them in a little bag and we don't charge anything for them to go out.”
The outreach has reached as far as Idaho and has made a difference for women like Donna Hudson, who joined eight months ago.
“When you’re coming off the streets or addiction you don’t really have a support system and they didn’t ask me for anything but can you get here,” Hudson said.
Hudson says she has gained a new perspective through the faith-based program and through her recovery journey.
“It's helped peel off the layers of trauma,” Hudson said, “and kind of like built a building a new identity and letting the old identity die as a drug act and building a new one in Christ.”
Yourdon has discovered her purpose through the program.
“The longer that I was in the program the more that I see God working in my life,” Yourdon said, “I realized that this was the calling he had for me, I no longer have to be what I was.”
With the fair wrapping up Sunday, if you or your loved one are in need of support there is still time to stop by.
