Dawn’s Home Team was looking for Local Outreach opportunities to serve in the community and found themselves led to Carpenter Place, a girl’s home in Wichita that works in the lives of at-risk youth. This was the perfect fit for Dawn as she has long had a heart for adolescent girls and the struggles they can face.
At first, she joined with her Home Team to provide consistent meals, activities, and companionship to the girls at Carpenter Place. It wasn’t long before word got out that Dawn is a Jazzercise instructor and she began teaching regular classes at the home.
Still, Dawn felt God calling her to more involvement at Carpenter Place. She prayed about it and spoke with Ben Zickafoose who heads up the organization. It became clear that God was leading her to a mentoring relationship with one of the girls in the home. She was soon paired with a young woman named Emily and the two have enjoyed building a bond over the past several months.
Listening has been the most important aspect of this new mentoring relationship. Dawn says it’s not about teaching someone how to live; it’s simply about being present for someone, listening to what they need to say, and sharing a common bond. Mentor relationships at Carpenter Place offer these young girls the consistency and accountability of someone who cares and is invested in their wellbeing. As Dawn puts it, “Being a mentor can speak to you just as much as it speaks to them.”
During this Unfinished season, God is using people like Dawn to positively affect the lives of others in Wichita and around the world. She says that she can see God’s hand at work in Emily’s unfinished story as well as her own. The trials these girls have gone through aren’t fair and are out of her control, but she can make a difference by showing them love through Jesus. Regarding her experience with the young women at Carpenter Place, Dawn says, “If they need somebody to take their hand and walk that path with them, then I’ll be that person that walks that path with them.”
By Jessica Williamson