From Pain to Purpose: How Tammy Ryder-Harms Is Transforming Teen Lives with Kaleidoscope Teens

In this episode of Hope Unlocked, Kristin Kurtz welcomes Tammy Ryder-Harms, founder of Kaleidoscope Teens, to share her powerful story of turning trauma into transformation. After navigating domestic abuse and her daughter’s mental health crisis, Tammy launched a life-changing nonprofit that offers immediate, no-cost support to teens in need. With suicide rates rising and youth hopelessness at an all-time high, Kaleidoscope Teens bridges the mental health gap through peer groups, real-life education, and creative outlets like music production. Tune in to hear how brokenness becomes beauty—and hope gets unlocked.

Tammy's Contact Info:

Website - www.kaleidoscopeteens.org

Email - tryderharms@kaleidoscopeteens.org 

Cell phone - 952-500-9723 

Facebook 

Instagram

Upcoming Event:

PeopleFest! Party -July 27, 2025 - Kaleidoscope Teens featured 4:00-4:20pm

Resource Mentioned:

Francis Chan - Rope Illustration

🎙️Hope Unlocked Listener Exclusive! Feeling stirred but not sure what to do next? Book a 45-minute Holy Spirit-led 1:1 coaching session w/ Hope Unlocked host Kristin Kurtz, founder of New Wings Coaching. This powerful conversation will help you move from stirred to activated—with peace, clarity, & a Spirit-led next step. Book your call HERE now–special pricing to listeners!

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Hope Unlocked
• 10:58 Patience Through Life's Hardest Moments
• 22:37 Escaping Abuse and Finding Faith
• 31:47 Piecing Together God's Purpose
• 44:53 Building Kaleidoscope Teens
• 59:27 Creating Community for Struggling Youth
• 1:14:01 Teen Mental Health Crisis Today
• 1:29:33 Life Skills and Resources for Teens
• 1:33:08 Prayer and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:16

Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast. I'm your host, kristen Kurtz, and I'm also the founder of New Wings Coaching. I help and empower wildhearted and adventurous women of faith feeling caged and stuck, unlock their true purpose and potential, break free from limitations and thrive with confidence, courage and hope. If you're curious to learn more about coaching with me, head to newwingscoachingnet and be sure to explore the show notes for ways to connect with me further. Get ready to dive in as we uncover empowering keys and insights in this episode. So tune in and let's unlock hope together. Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast. I'm Kristen Kurtz, your host. I pray this episode is like a holy ivy of hope for your soul. Please help me.

Speaker 1: 0:55

Welcome Tammy Ryder-Hirms to the show. So excited to have her here today. We are actually new and fast friends. Who is a connection through Elisa Rabin-Bell are actually new and fast friends. Who is a connection through Elisa Rabin-Bell, who I had the privilege of also interviewing, and she's episode 143 if you want to go check her out. But so, so exciting to meet people who are actually local and happen to live in the town right west of you. So, tammy, would love for you to just share a little bit about yourself before we get into your story.

Speaker 2: 1:28

Well, hello, I am so grateful to be here and, yes, we are fast friends. I am so grateful that I saw that you did a podcast with Elisa and I love the work that you're doing with New Wings Coaching and your podcast, and so I just feel super honored and blessed to be here with you and just really blessed to share where the Lord has led me, because it, you know, I mean life is a journey and you know it took, you know it took a while for me to figure out what I was meant for. I mean, I know I was born on purpose and with a purpose and I knew that the things that he had me walking through in my life was sharpening my sword and preparing me for something, and he was teaching me patience because I didn't know exactly what it was going to be. So I often liken it to like putting down puzzle pieces. And and you don't, the Lord sets down puzzle pieces very slowly, one at a time, and you don't really have the whole picture, like you don't it's? It's like doing a puzzle without having the picture as the key. I know it's crazy. So I'm like, okay, lord, you're teaching me patience.

Speaker 2: 2:57

So, um, I am from California, I live in Minnesota. I've got two girls are 21 and 25, and I've got two bonus children as well. One's 25 and one will be 30 in August.

Speaker 1: 3:10

They are.

Speaker 2: 3:10

Anna and Ella and Steven and Alex and my husband John. We live in Eden Prairie, minnesota, and, yeah, I can go into what I do with Kaleidoscope Teens and what led me there, if you'd like me to.

Speaker 1: 3:29

I would love to hear and I do want to back up for just a second when you said you know the Lord is teaching you patience. I don't know if you did what I did and said you know like patience is challenging, I would say, for many people, and sometimes when we ask for something like Lord, can you teach me patience, you get to have some training ground in that. So did you have some examples of being trained in patience?

Speaker 2: 4:08

patience. I mean, yeah, it's like, hurry up, give me patience now. And I think people fail to realize sometimes that, like, in order to gain patience, you have to go through things that are going to test your patience you know, and and some of it's, some of it's really hard.

Speaker 2: 4:22

Like you know, my, my children, have had really a lot of difficulty with anxiety and depression and suicidal ideation, and I was I mean, luckily they had me as an engaged parent who has good insurance and can afford the co-pays and I'm actively involved and I'm trying to find the solutions and I'm praying to him and I'm telling them to pray to him and I'm, you know, trying to find the right counselor or the right program or the right therapy.

Speaker 2: 4:54

And and and I'm, you know, like when someone wants to die, like like there's no time, like you just feel like there's no time, like you just feel like there's no time, like like I need the answer and I need it now. And I would tell my daughter I'm praying for you and she would say, well, I prayed too, but I feel like, like he didn't listen, like why would he leave me in this space if I prayed to him and asked him? So that's a whole nother conversation. You know, I think children can't wrap him. So that's a whole nother conversation. You know, I think children can't wrap their brain around that, much less adults. But you know you pray for answers of why you are where you are, why your kids?

Speaker 1: 5:40

are going through what they're going through. I don't know that. I mean that must be so challenging as a parent, and even you know, I've had a situation with one of my children that you know he had an accident and I was praying and you know the miracle that we're looking for wasn't, you know, the culmination. And you know you can question, like well, why, like, why didn't you answer my prayer? Why, like, why didn't you answer my prayer? And I think that's one of the most challenging things in this walk at times is there's often an answer that we'll know later, but you can kind of look back on some of these times and see where his hand was on it. You just couldn't see it at the time when you were walking through the fire, right, Absolutely and I love.

Speaker 2: 6:22

Like something that my mom told me too is you know. She said when you are having a difficult time like I, just you know. She put her hands together like she was coming and she said I just envisioned you in Jesus's hands.

Speaker 1: 6:40

And that didn't.

Speaker 2: 6:41

So I like it makes me about cry, but I just I loved that visual and I love the faith and the and the love and the sentiment behind that and so I'm like, okay, I get to borrow that because that's wonderful, like as a parent, because I think you know, when your kids are toddlers and young young it feels overwhelming sometimes and then it's kind of like bigger kids and bigger problems. And then they graduate from high school and you think, oh, yay, we kept them alive, off to college and it's all good.

Speaker 2: 7:16

But they're like no, I'm still calling my mom and talking to her about things that I need support with, so we get to be a parent and love and support and pray for our kids forever and ever. And so just I will use that forever like just holding, imagining my children being held by Jesus in his hands and you know, and I like the visual also of, like you know, Jesus, the footprints, and Jesus walking down the beach with you and and sometimes he's just walking behind you and observing and making sure you're okay, sometimes he walks beside you and sometimes he's gotta pick you up and carry you yeah, you know, one like piggyback ride yes, exactly I'm you've had piggyback rides too right?

Speaker 1: 8:05

Yes, for sure, Definitely.

Speaker 2: 8:52

Well, tell us about a piggyback ride that you've taken in your journey, just when I was in the relationship with the kid's father and I knew that it wasn't healthy or sustainable. I knew that, you know, there should not be, you know, physical and emotional abuse towards myself or towards my kids. But I also knew that he would get to have a relationship with his children and if he was triggered like, I wanted to be there when they were young so that I could get in between them and stand in the way and protect them. And when, um, I don't know, at at some point, like my, my daughter, when she was nine years old, you know, she would rock in fetal position and and just say I, you know, I'm never going to be happy, and I, I just, I don't want to be alive anymore. Like, and, it was so hopeless and at nine years old, that was, it was devastating. And then she had said at one point too, like I, you know, if I kill myself, I want to kill you, and and my sister like, and, and so I was like, ooh, we got to unpack that one. So we went to the counselor and and she said I just love you so much that when I leave, I want you to come with me. And so, um, I knew you know when you're thinking of getting yourself out of a bad situation. If you get into your logic mind about all the what ifs and all the what you need to do, it can be so overwhelming that the next logical steps you need to take you can't physically do it Because you're so overly consumed with what needs to happen and all the what ifs. So that was a time where I just, you know, I had to jump right and just and literally, god put me.

Speaker 2: 11:13

I was in the gym, I was next to a woman on a treadmill. I started talking to her. I said, you know, she started talking to me about how she was going to move and that her house was available. I said, okay, like, has he rented it yet? Nope, you know where does he live? Can I get his number? And he happened to live in Australia, which is where my brother lives.

Speaker 2: 11:39

So I thought that was a little angel nudge too. I mean, that was kind of random and and and literally just everything kind of fell into place within a matter of a couple of days and I got to just take a step in the dark, like with full faith, like all of my paycheck got taken, all of the savings got taken. I had the, the person who owned the home. Let us move in without a down payment, without me even paying rent. Um, my friend showed up because I because all of my money had been taken by my ex. I because all of my money had been taken by my ex I couldn't afford gas in my car to get to my job. I had no food for groceries, I mean, and you think about it when you literally have no money, like I'm, like I can't buy toilet paper, I can't wash our clothes.

Speaker 2: 12:34

I can't go buy laundry detergent, you know, and I mean, and I literally didn't even take a bed for myself you know, so I have no bed, no money, like no food, no gas, and I'm like huh, you know, and and I'm afraid, like I was, I was genuinely afraid of what, what happened to us, and so that I mean that I mean that was definitely a time.

Speaker 1: 13:12

How many years ago was this?

Speaker 2: 13:15

Oh, you're going to make me do math. Yes, no, my daughter's 25 and she was nine at the time. So 14, 14 years ago. So yeah, so my daughters were six years old and nine years old at the time. So it was amazing just to see people show up in my life, my friends and um, put gas in my tank, get food for us, get our necessities for us and literally like help carry us.

Speaker 2: 13:43

And, and then that was the piggyback ride. I'm like, okay, geez, like let's go, and you know. And so I mean I had my moments where I'm like, how am I going to do this? How are we going to survive? Like I don't, even I didn't know any of the things, right, and so you know, I would get, I would be crying and kind of like, oh gosh, I don't know what's going to happen here, and I would get on my elliptical and I would pray and I would just go, go, go, pray, pray, pray. And then by the time I was done, I was like, okay, I got this. Like I really don't know how I got this, but that's the beauty of faith is that, like you don't get to get it, like there's no crystal ball, you don't know how it's going to work out. But you get to believe that it's going to work out, that he is carrying you and that it is all going to be okay, and we also don't get to define what okay is Like you know, yeah, like you

Speaker 2: 14:49

know we, you know I mean I have been through a lot with you know a sexual assault when I was younger, alcoholic father, divorced parents. You know going through that with my own relationship and what it put my kids through and and so on and so forth. But I mean what I realized is that and so I have total peace with it and that's what I wish for people. So much is that, even though I went through all those things and it was super hard in the moment, like it was all for a purpose right, like it was like I could not do the work I do with teens that are struggling or with parents who have teens or kids that are struggling, if I hadn't been through it myself. It gives me this whole different level of empathy and wisdom and caring. Um, and then I get to do. I always talk about my little direct downloads from from the lord, like I don't have the great.

Speaker 1: 16:05

So I have to go back for a second, because 25 minus 9 is actually 16, so I had to fix my math okay okay, just in case somebody's listening and they're like, yeah, yes, yes, I did, yeah, I had, yeah, because we don't edit or audit this podcast, so I went back and we just rewind it a little bit. I love, I love what you said about you. Know how do you not walked through this? You, you can't. You can't fully empathize or fully understand what people are walking through unless you've walked through it. Right, and I would love for you, like you, you mentioned you work with teens and the, the parents of teens. So there's a, there was a moment that brought you into that um realm of helping people in this way. So what, what was that story like? What is is the testimony behind that.

Speaker 2: 17:02

Well, I think it's all that.

Speaker 2: 17:04

You know I went through with my daughters and you know kind of the trauma and the PTSD and all of the things that they experienced you know kind of led into, you know, anxiety and depression and some suicidal ideation and they were super shy.

Speaker 2: 17:27

They were super smart kids and super loving and super sweet and amazing friends and stuff, but they were terribly shy and they were carrying all this trauma in them and you know what I realized? You know, I think there's this time when they hit, like middle school and high school, early high school, where all of that just kind of hits and it, you know, it's a difficult, challenging time for kids. Their brains are not fully developed and they're, you know, either dealing with social media, they're dealing with kids at school and and all. We'll talk more later about all the things that kids are dealing with. But I just my, my daughter was feeling suicidal and so I was trying to get her into a DBT program to teach her coping skills and to give her extra support. And with those programs you can get together with your parents and then the parent gets counseling, the kid gets counseling and then you go together and learn like coping skills and stuff. So it's quite a good program, but they had a 10 month waiting period and she was suicidal then, like I'm like 10 months from now, like you know, and then you

Speaker 2: 18:47

know. And then during the pandemic, I know every single hospital bed in the entire state of Minnesota was full with teens that wanted to die. It was unbelievable. So, and I have kids that were struggling, some that were alumni, that were in college, and it was particularly hard also on kids that were new into college and completely isolated in their dorm rooms and they had lines of chairs in the hallways of the hospitals and kids had to wait up to five days to actually get a room. So they were lined up on folding chairs in the hallways so that they were protected and safe and they were not in an environment where they could choose to hurt themselves.

Speaker 2: 19:39

So all of those sorts of things like my seeing the pain of my friends. And the interesting thing is too, is that it made me sad that like I didn't know that one of my very best friend's daughter was really struggling until I bumped into her at Prairie Care, which is another resource that exists, and I thought this is so sad that we as parents feel I don't know if it's shames the right word but like we hold it close to our vest and we don't want anybody to know that we're struggling or our kids are struggling. We're putting on the mask and we're trying to look like everything's perfect and in the meantime we're struggling or our kids are struggling. We're putting on the mask and we're trying to look like everything's perfect and in the meantime we're breaking inside, and so it's not a good thing for our kids, because if we feel like we have to look perfect and can't admit that we have some hurt and pain that we need to deal with and pray about and communicate about and get support on, if we're not willing to do that, then our kids think that they have to put the mask on and pretend like everything's okay. In the meantime they're imploding inside.

Speaker 2: 20:51

So I just thought you know all these things. I'm like gosh, if your kid's hurting, you're hurting first of all and second of all, like someone's got to help these kids. And it can't be like I had bad insurance when I did the DVT program, ultimately, 10 months later with my daughter, and I think it costs like $8,000. Like it was crazy. So you look at like the disparity between who can afford to get the help and who can't that's an issue.

Speaker 2: 21:21

You look at when someone's hurting and like the wait time to actually get the help. So I was like someone's got to help these kids and it's got to be like now, it's got to be free, it's got to be immediate, like no wait lists. Like you know, I found people on social media and the Eden Prairie Moms group that have kids that were struggling and then they're struggling and I mean two hours later they're in our Tuesday night program, like meeting with friends and doing support group and learning coping skills and having fun and just having a break from like school and home and all the stresses that all those things can bring. So that was, I mean, it was just the desire, the need for my own kids to get support and then seeing other kids that I knew in the community struggling and then looking at statistics too.

Speaker 1: 22:20

Yeah, so can I. Can I go back a little bit? Were you working a job at this time when things started, you know I was.

Speaker 2: 22:31

I mean, you know I was a single mom. So I mean I was a single mom with no child support, doing it on my own support, doing it on my own. And then, to make it even easier and more fun, it took six and a half years to get divorce paper signed, even when I was crying and begging with the judge to get it done, and it was. So that's a whole different thing, but, yeah, so that was when I needed patience too.

Speaker 1: 22:59

Like seriously. I mean 10 months, months into the program, six and a half years for the. You know worse to be final be final, like you've definitely seen these situations that you've literally walked through. That took, honestly, more time than and it should right right for sure, and definitely so.

Speaker 1: 23:20

Then you're getting this. You know like, hey, somebody needs to help these kids. Did you immediately think I need to help the kids, or was it was there? Was there a little bit of resistance for you to step into it? I'm just kind of curious on that because I know sometimes we we look at things in this world and we think, gosh, somebody needs to help in this XYZ situation and God will say, well, it's you. Was that kind of your situation, or was there like, what did that look like for you?

Speaker 2: 23:55

I mean I think it was like. I mean I was able to witness in other communities a framework of something that seemed to be helping kids. So I thought, okay, how about I take that framework and then we create something in our community, because there was not anything in our community at the time, in our community at the time and I don't know, I, just I, there's just a knowing, a piece, um, um, I I don't, I don't even know. Like I just was all in, I just thought someone needs to help these kids and I'm going to do it, like I'm going to raise my hand. But, that being said, like I also could not have done it to the level that I've done it if I hadn't met my husband and we. He was my best friend from college's brother, who's four years older, and when I left California to go to South Dakota for college he was leaving South Dakota to go to get his master's at UCLA in California.

Speaker 2: 24:58

So we had not met until later in life when we both were divorced. So but we really aligned. I called it the voice for dating because we just talked and talked and talked about specifically supporting his sister in a situation she was in. But but, like, I got to know his heart for the Lord and I got to know his heart for his family and I got to know, like you know, his, his commitment to health and wellness and his desire to explore the world and other cultures and other lands and other people, and and so we just so connected at that core and and and if it hadn't started with that faith piece, it would not have even gone beyond that. But, um, and, and I didn't even know what he looked like there, he wasn't really on social media and he said, well, come out to California. I live a half hour from your mom. I'm like, well, there's a safety net there, like I can Like.

Speaker 2: 25:58

I'm like well, there's a safety net there. Like I get like a close mom, you know. So I'm like Julie, I go. How tall is this guy? I go. Can I bring my heels? Like he goes, what if I was like 5'2" I go, I don't know, I'm just kidding, I wasn't sure.

Speaker 1: 26:13

No, just kidding, you know these things right.

Speaker 2: 26:16

Yeah, exactly, I'm like can I bring my heels, you know? So I'm like, luckily six foot one or two or something like that, but anyways, um, I get talking on all my stories and then I lose track of what the question even is. I'm not gonna lie it's okay.

Speaker 1: 26:33

Well, I think like. So you went out there oh, so I just I went out there yeah.

Speaker 2: 26:39

I went out to California and I met him. So I guess the point of that whole like meeting my husband and him being so committed to the Lord and committed to serving when I went to him and said I would like to do this thing, like my kids need it you now are having experience with that that you didn't previously have. You're seeing the need that's out there, you know, and I and so we're a partnership in this and I tell him I joke around and I say he's earned his wings because he's the force backing my ability to do this, because I was able, and supported by him, to leave my full-time six-figure job to do this work. And this fall I will start my ninth year of doing this work. So I'm forever, eternally grateful. Because you know the Lord through us, like we are the vessel.

Speaker 2: 27:40

So I won't say we've saved lives, the Lord has saved lives through us. You know being able to work with families and with parents and with teens, Because, again, if the teens are hurting or the kids are hurting, the parents are struggling too. Because you love your kids. I mean, those of us who have kids know what the love is like for your kids. There's a love like no other. So, and then there's this helplessness too, Like when you feel like, oh, they're struggling and I don't know what to do, you know. So I'm very grateful for his support and our ability to start this thing and to see what it can involved into. And now, like I, really I hold it very loosely because I want the Lord to be in charge and I there are a lot of different things that we do to help people and there's a lot of ways that this can grow and expand and reach more people. And I don't know, I'm waiting for that puzzle piece, I guess.

Speaker 2: 28:45

You know, I'm like I just keep doing what I'm doing, and I think you and I have talked about this too that a lot of times, like, we just get to show up, like, and when I show up and I'm like, okay, lord, here I am, what's what, what's next? Or like, okay, you had me go to this meeting, like who am I going to be sitting by? Oh, it's the principal of the arts high school that I've been wanting to meet. Wow, like I can't make that up, you know.

Speaker 1: 29:16

so, oh, my gosh, yeah, I love how you like, just even with your husband too. You know, I was just reminded of the song wind beneath my wings. You know, it's just like that current to have somebody in your life who truly supports you. Um, not everybody has that. So I guess I would say, you know, to those who are listening, who have been given this send from the lord, who maybe don't have somebody in their corner who's supporting them, like what would you say to them?

Speaker 2: 29:49

I would say that, um, you get to create that. I would say the lord is always there, being the wind beneath your wings, and I you, so leaning into your faith, leaning into the word, but then also finding community, like you have been led to create community through your New Wings, coaching and bring people together through the podcast. You know there are so many people out in the world who will lift you up and help you fulfill the purpose that God's put in your life. But you have to have the strength to look beyond. It's kind of like when people say you can choose your family. You get the family you get, but you get to choose who gets to be your family or who you create a family with, and you have to.

Speaker 2: 30:45

I like the whole. I use the microphone analogy a lot. I talk about how you, especially with the teens and even the parents, but who like? Who are you going to turn the mic up on and who are you going to mute the mic?

Speaker 2: 31:02

So, you get to be in control, like if someone's not speaking life and love and possibility into your life, you get to mute that mic, like you don't have to listen to that person, like you get to choose to turn their mic down or mute their mic. And the people that are speaking that into your life, that are lifting you up to be, I mean, use all the gifts that you have. Because you know, I see over and over again like we are all uniquely and wonderfully made and I, you know, I have to tell these kids because you go into these school and these high performing communities and there's a, this is the way the world tells you life is supposed to go. You know, yeah, you know, work hard, you get the good grades, you get in the. You know, you get in the sports. You're on and da-da-da-da-da. And the DECA kids or the high-performing kids are like, listen, we're struggling too, but we're not allowed to show the struggle, like we have to put the mask on while we're crumbling inside because one AP class isn't enough and 4.0 isn't good enough and being on the football team isn't good enough. You have to be a starter or a star and, like, the football team isn't good enough, you have to be a starter or star. And like this college isn't good enough and you know like they're always struggling with that. Not enough, like the world and their parents and everybody are telling them that's not enough, you're not enough. Or like trying to shove the square peg in the round hole. Like you know you should go get the good grades. Do the classes, go to college, get the good job, save your money, get your. You know you should go get the good grades. Do the classes, go to college, get the good job, save your money, get your. You know like so that you can retire.

Speaker 2: 32:45

And francis chan has an amazing everybody google it. I love his video, his rope analogy with the red end. And he's like this is the white part of like miles of rope is eternity and the little part on the end is red and that's your life on earth. And then you take like okay, like you're supposed to work hard, work hard, make all these choices so that at the very end you can have, you know, you can just self-indulge and have fun with yourself and your life. And so he said that people look at him when he makes decisions and thinks he's crazy because he's making decisions based on eternity, while the world is making decisions based on that one inch piece of red, which what do we get to do when we retire, or how much money are we going to save or have for our kids?

Speaker 1: 33:38

So it's yeah, I love, I love that. I think when we, when we first talked the first time, definitely a very key like alignment with me as well where it's it's so like we need to flip the system here.

Speaker 2: 33:54

Yeah, wouldn't you say A hundred percent.

Speaker 1: 33:57

Like and I see it not only with kids, but even, you know, women in their forties, fifties and sixties, and they're like wait a second, I can actually be who God created me to be. Exactly You're like them before they like go that far.

Speaker 2: 34:13

Yeah, and you know what's so interesting is that part of like the work that I've done in my life, like I've worked with him for prison ministries, with the Shakopee Women's Prison, and getting mentorship into their lives like a team approach to mentorship and the difference that that can make in the lives of those women. And we lost a friend, steve Rumler, to opioid addiction. So there's the Steve Rumler Hope Network and so we got a law passed in the state of Minnesota, the Don't Run Call 911 law. It's like Steve's law. So basically if you're with someone that's overdosing, you can call for help so that they can stay alive. Because what was happening is if people were doing drugs together and someone started overdosing, the other person would run because they were afraid of getting arrested and leave the other person to die. So now there's a law where they can actually get. You know like the other person won't be held liable for whatever drugs they were doing if they call for help to save the person's life. And then they do a ton of distribution of Narcan.

Speaker 2: 35:28

And then I worked with trafficking justice. So I've done all this work. That was when I was trying to put my puzzle pieces down and I'm like where am I supposed to be? What am I supposed to be? What's, what am I supposed to be working on? And my daughter, my oldest daughter, um, said to me mom, don't you get it Like. You got to help the kids. Like, why are you waiting until they're like, until they've been trafficked and then they're doing drugs, and then they get in the system, in the prison system, and then they come out and they have nowhere else to go but to the person that was selling them the drugs and who then, traffics them and they get in this whole thing and and she's like you got to help the kids, like help them before they get to those situations and I was like, oh my gosh, thank you, lord, for like the wisdom of babes Right.

Speaker 1: 36:22

Exactly. Oh my gosh, and I mean it's so true because, um, and just the fact that she, kind of full circle, was able to, to infuse that wisdom into you and just give you that puzzle piece that you were looking for, and yet it was through your own daughter that you were looking for and yet it was through your own daughter.

Speaker 2: 36:41

Yeah, yeah, it's so cool. And now she I mean this is. The other thing that I love is that and we were in in our community we, the Eden Prairie Community Foundation, does a quarterly luncheon for nonprofit leaders, and so we were talking about volunteerism and like how do you get people to volunteer and stay committed and stay motivated and not get burned out and all that kind of stuff? And I got to tell how, right now, like initially we had just this core set of volunteers that volunteered for six years. Like that is unheard of like in the land of nonprofits and volunteers to have volunteers stick around for that long. And now, like the first class of kids that I had that were seniors in high school when I started the program have now graduated from college, and now they have all I would say 80% of my volunteers or alumni have gone away, graduated from college, come back, and now they're mentoring other young people. They're helping spread the word to businesses and to other individuals about what we're doing. One of them's a social worker, so she's on my advisory board and I call her. You know, like, oh, what do I do about this situation, you know. And so they come and they volunteer and they work with the kids. So I think that's a testament to the value that they felt in the program. And then their heart is to give back too.

Speaker 2: 38:12

And one of the kids, like Elvis his name is Elvis and he was from Kenya. He is from Kenya and he literally just two weeks ago got his US citizenship. So I'm so excited for him for that. But he graduated, he went to the University of Minnesota and was in the business school and he's worked for a ministry, like he did ministry on the campus of the U of M. And he got recognized. At the U of M they give two awards per class for students that made a difference in their community and he got one of those awards and invited me to come. He had a couple of people he could invite, invited me to come with him while he got that award from the president of the U of M. So it's so neat to watch them then get a heart for ministry or a heart for making a difference in young people and then go out in the world and go do that.

Speaker 1: 39:10

I mean just the impact. You know, I like to say, like we, we have a choice right, and what we're doing, and so much of what we do, and especially the work that you're doing, like has generational legacy, like it has generational impact, right.

Speaker 2: 39:27

Yeah, it absolutely does. And I, you know I mean not only you know is the program and what the Lord's doing through it, saving the lives of kids who did not want to be here, like for my daughter when she got into this program, like she, like her graduating from high school was not an expected outcome, more because of her mental health and her being alive, to graduate from high school was not an expected outcome. And so some of the kids come to our program, you know, in that same, you know way of being, and so, um, you know the mere fact that they're alive. But then we've it's. It's so amazing to me. We worked with kids from 18 different countries.

Speaker 2: 40:22

So the cultural impact and, and you know, when we, at the time when George Floyd was murdered, we had kids from 13 different countries in our group, and so, um, we started a program called love your neighbor and I asked them, I said, would you please like get up in front of the room? And I gave him a little PowerPoint template, like outline for them to use to, um, just talk about their culture, because I believe, like, fear breeds hate and hate, you know, hate breeds violence and it's, you know, we've. So it's like oh no, sorry, I skipped one, sorry.

Speaker 2: 41:13

Ignorance, ignorance breeds fear, fear breeds hate and hate breeds violence. I knew there was four, but it starts with ignorance. So when we don't know about each other and what our ways of being and what our cultural values are and what are you know, all the different things that create who we are in the background, the lens that we look through life at, like it's you know, then that can breed fear and animosity and stuff. So, giving all these kids the opportunity to share about their culture and family values and their faith and all that, and then also having them you know, then getting raw and real about it and talking about how does it feel to be you here?

Speaker 2: 41:59

Like how does it feel Like? What's your experience in the world here? And so, because there's stuff that people do to hurt each other that they don't intend to, and the new language for that is like microaggressions. You know, sometimes it's just ignorance, like I don't know that touching your. You know one thing like a. One thing I use as an example is that you know if a girl has really pretty braids, kind of like when someone comes up to a pregnant woman and they want it like and they want to touch your stomach, you know and they're like some people are down with it and some people are like I don't even know who you are like why are you?

Speaker 2: 42:40

touching me. No, exactly, I know it's like kind of a boundary, and so if you touch a girl who has pretty braids, like if you go, oh, those are really pretty braids, sometimes your instinct is like people want to touch the braids and that is, that is offensive, you know. But there's things that if you don't know, you don't know and stuff. And then there's also very direct, hateful, hurtful things that go on. So I mean it just. You know, jesus did not hang out with the jews and the pharisees, jesus hung out Ragamuffin.

Speaker 1: 43:19

What's up? He liked the ragamuffins.

Speaker 2: 43:22

Mm-hmm. Different races and cultures and you know, those that others would not hang around and stuff. So anyway, so it's just, it's been so fun to like you know just yeah, I love that program. They'll love your name. And then I counted. You know that we have 18 cultures now, or 18 countries that we've served.

Speaker 1: 43:49

It's just amazing to me yeah, I mean I have a question to go back a little bit, but I'm I'm guessing that somebody is wondering, like, what is the name of her nonprofit?

Speaker 2: 44:00

I know we haven't even done that. Okay, it's Kaleidoscope Teens. I'm so sorry. Yes, no, it's okay.

Speaker 1: 44:09

You really got into this. I can just imagine somebody's on the edge of their seat there, like what is the name of it, and I would love for you to share.

Speaker 2: 44:21

like what is the meaning behind the name and how did you come up with it? You know the name. Actually, one of the parents of one of the kids that we were serving came up with the name Kaleidoscope and I thought of it. And the way I thought of it is like, okay, like I look at it, like like I stick all my little fingers out and I, you know, a kaleidoscope has well, part of it is kaleidoscope has a bunch of broken pieces. That together makes a beautiful picture, right, and we all have a bunch of broken pieces, but we are all beautiful and what we have to offer the world is amazing, right. So I have the three different little circles, so I stick all my fingers together and I intertwine them and that's all the little broken pieces. And so I say a community is created of all these different pieces and it's a beautiful thing together when all the pieces are present.

Speaker 2: 45:20

Like we have different socioeconomic levels, we have different education levels, we have different cultures. You know we have, you know. So it's like there's so much diversity in our communities. So I kind of feel like, you know, if we're working together in love and in unity, it creates a beautiful picture, right, and then you go to a family unit is the next one, and the right hand is the parents and the left hand is the kids, and that family unit is created by, you know kind of the lens that the parents are looking through, how they were raised, what they were.

Speaker 2: 46:00

You know kind of the lens that the parents are looking through how they were raised, what they were, you know what their culture is, what their socioeconomic level is, how they were parented, how they think kids should be parented, whether they have faith or not and what that faith is, and so, and then the kids bring to the table what they bring to the table. But half of what's going on, like kids have limited, they have limited power, you know, in the situation, because you know they're kids and so they didn't choose what family they were born into, they didn't choose the color of their skin, they didn't choose the socioeconomic level. So I mean there's all those different pieces that create the family unit. And then the kids themselves, like when they're young, I mean there's things that impact their lives and who they are, and some of them they have control over and some of them they don't. So there's all those components that create who they are and who they're being and how life is going for them. You know.

Speaker 1: 47:06

So I love what you're doing and I know you mentioned you have like mentors that help out. Like how many people have come alongside you, because I know like you can't carry this alone, right Like?

Speaker 2: 47:18

you can't carry this alone, right, right, yeah, I mean I've, I, you know, I mean I've got mentors at my church. I have, um, specifically, I think it's so cute because George, like George, is one of my mentors and George was in a networking group with me and he is from the East coast, so he's like he's very typical, he's from california. So I love straight june east coast people right like just call, like see it see it like it is, and whatever.

Speaker 1: 47:52

We're an anomaly here in minnesota, aren't we?

Speaker 2: 47:56

I know it's like yeah I'm, I'm a Morical, like I see it whatever.

Speaker 2: 48:00

That's not necessarily normal here, but he came up to me and he's like, listen, he goes. I always say when I talk, like him, listen. He's like God doesn't talk to me that much, but he told me I'm supposed to help you so I better listen, you know, because he doesn't talk to me that often. So I better listen, you know, cause he doesn't talk to me that often. But so I just thought that was kind of a cute story of, like you know, people. I mean some people just want to help in general. Some people have kids that have had difficulty. Some people that have come alongside are parents of kids that have benefited from the program and, like I said, some of our like the kids themselves that have gone from the program and, like I said, some of them are like the kids themselves that have gone through the program, graduated and then come around to come back and support kids. I love that.

Speaker 1: 48:50

Well, I know you said you have a really special event that's coming up and this actually is going to be launching prior to that. So I'd love for you to share a little bit about kind of the heart behind what you're doing and what's coming up.

Speaker 2: 49:06

Yeah, I'll share about that and then I'll go into more about like what we do as an organization after that as well.

Speaker 2: 49:15

But part of like my holding things loosely and being nimble as this is the nonprofit that I've created is being open to the opportunities that the Lord presents and then really having no fear and asking for things. And we were part of a grant program and we got some different experiences in the arts doing pottery, making glass beads, doing mosaic art, and then we got to record a song, um, with a producer, and this is a producer who's produced everyone from Phil Collins to Lizzo Um, and he has done, you know, movie scores and music for video games, and so he's worked with a lot of people and he is amazing with the teens and we enjoyed that experience so much. And I had so many kids that were musical in our group. They could beat box, sing, rap, you know. I had violinist, bass guitarist, guitarist, all sorts of things, and so I said, hey, would you ever want it? And I like take that steal that everybody Like would you ever want it?

Speaker 1: 50:32

And I like take that steal that everybody Like don't be afraid to ask ever for it again Would you ever want to.

Speaker 2: 50:36

I'm like hey, would you ever want it? Like, that's what I'm saying. I'm like, hey, would you ever want to? Like record an album with us? And almost always I get, yes, like almost always, you know. So he's like yeah, sure, you know. And I'm like, oh, you know, but um, I mean, that's not an expected thing, that's not like a hey, that's what we do as we make albums in this program. But but I'm always looking for ways, because all of these kids don't have traditional giftings, and so my goal is to like, let them see that they are created on purpose that way, with their giftings, and that there is a place in the world for them to trust that the Lord made no mistakes and that their gifts are there on purpose and that they get to find a way to use them. You know, and so you know.

Speaker 2: 51:37

So when we got this opportunity, you know, and then I'd always take someone come alongside. So the Bernard group is a printer here in Eden Prairie and they came alongside and provided some funding for us so that we could pay. And Bionic is the name, so he's Stephon Bionic. He goes by Bionic Taylor as the producer, and so we were able to pay him to do this album, and so, um, yeah, it's just amazing. Like we have seventh grade girls on violins, we had an eighth grade boy on a bass guitar and another boy on a guitar and, like you know, all of these kids are singing. They wrote every single word of every single song and and it's and one of my alumni who is doing music right now as well she's going to perform at PeopleFest. So sometimes I take a while to get to the point.

Speaker 1: 52:36

Sorry about that, but I'm on the edge of my seat. It's so good Like. This is so good, tammy.

Speaker 2: 52:41

So like. So we get to work with those famous producer and produce this music and it's the confidence that he's giving these kids is so amazing and so, um, we get to perform. I've been for seven years on this people fest committee and we do this community wide event called people fest and we have the people fest party. That kicks off the event that is happening on July 27th from four to 8 PM in Eden, in Eden Prairie, minnesota, and it's at a lake. I mean, we're the land of 10,000 lakes, right, so of course it's at a lake and they have an amphitheater and there's going to be food trucks and booths. So we'll have a booth there talking about what we do for teens and parents, and then they have a stage and throughout the day, from four to eight, we have um groups from different different groups from different cultures doing different dance and music and sorts of things. So we kick off the event at four o'clock, so from four to four 20, we will do four of our songs.

Speaker 2: 53:48

Then May, who goes musically by May Doll, and she has an album that's a faith-based it's faith-based songs. You can find it on Spotify. I just again like I'll get on a diverted thing here with her too, but she is an alumni and so she's going to perform some of her songs and she has got one song oh my gosh, like you just got to look her up me versus me the EP on Spotify. I mean, she has got some just faith based like you want to kick your morning off right, like you can just plug these songs in and and they will amp you up for the Lord and for life, and it's just so. I am so proud of her. So she will be there performing as well and, yeah, I'm just super excited for the opportunity. So then we'll make our album available on Bandcamp. So, if you look up, we named the album Kaleidoscope for the same reasons, our name is Kaleidoscope and it's on Bandcamp. So you can go into Bandcamp, look up Kaleidoscope, and that will be live as of July 27th and you can download the songs. And if you want to make a donation to support the work that we're doing, please do so. It's life-transforming and life-saving work that we're doing. Please do so. It's life transforming and life saving work that the Lord is doing through our group. So, yeah, we're just super excited about that opportunity.

Speaker 2: 55:20

And May is a student too. She was in one of my first couple years and she in one of my first couple years and she I'm just proud of her. Like she ended up. You know she has not had an easy past. She ended up getting pregnant when she was 16. Her father kicked her out of the house so, through a church organization that helps find housing for teenagers, we were able to place her with a family and then we were able to place her with a family and then we were able to place her in a school in Chaska that I think it's Beyond New Beginnings, but maybe I shouldn't say, because I'm not 100% sure if that's right, but it's a school in Chaska that allows young moms to go to high school and complete high school and bring their babies with them and the first hour of school is teaching the kid like the mom with the kid, with the baby, teaching the mom how to be a good parent.

Speaker 2: 56:19

And it's it's such an amazing resource because it is my opinion that you know, like of all of the alumni that I've had and students that I've had that have gotten pregnant unexpectedly, every single one of them has had the baby. But they need someone like our organization or their church family or others, because often their own family won't step up and help them. Often their own family won't step up and help them. Like we can't expect them to have these babies successfully and love and nurture them and provide for them without supporting them. So if we actually show up in love and not in judgment and provide help to people that find themselves in a situation unexpectedly, then the right choice always gets made. But they need that safety net, like the old. What would jesus do? You know, you know, and so she, you know. So she was graduated from high school and like her son is like gonna be in first grade now.

Speaker 1: 57:31

I can't even believe it wow, that's crazy I mean, I'm sure you have like so many examples of these kids that have come through with you and I can only imagine how, like in awe of god, you are oh, totally like you're like bold. I need to help these kids yeah and also the bold uh, would you ever wanna?

Speaker 2: 58:01

yeah, would you ever wanna? Hey, like. So my next would you ever wanna? Is would you ever want to help me write a book with the kids? So we have a grant, we got some grant funding and, um, I have some somebody kind of in the background helping us that I know that's kind of a coach and helps people write books. But I'm because always in the back of my mind. Number one I want to have them have real world examples of using their gifts and seeing that there's value in the world for their gifts. Number two there's value in who they are and what their story is. They get to tell their story if they so choose to tell their story, and I'm also constantly building resumes.

Speaker 2: 58:46

Like we give, like we, the kids get given to and loved and supported, so they get to pass it forward or pay it forward, and so we're trying always to look for different ways. So if anybody has any volunteer opportunities, let me know. But we're always trying to find volunteer opportunities for the teens, you know, so that they can give back as well. But, um, I will skip. Let me like get to the basics, because I got more stories than you can imagine and I'll tell more stories. But like, essentially, like we're kaleidoscope teens and, um, we serve teens ages 11 to 19, so that's in our area, like that can typically be like a middle school, sixth, seventh, eighth grade and then high school, you know, ninth through 12th grade, and then we also, because we have so many alumni, and what we found is that just because you turn 18 and you graduate from high school doesn't mean you stop needing community or that you stop needing support for mental health. You still need to learn coping skills. And then the life skills that we teach are even more relevant, because you're actually having to buy a car, rent an apartment, get insurance and do all those sorts of things that we teach.

Speaker 2: 1:00:09

Um, and then we work with the parents of teens, because I've, you know, I've been there, done that, like I know what it's like to have struggling teens, and so, um, you know, like the woman that I talked about, that, like I, I messaged her message back to her on Facebook, a Facebook group, and her daughter was at her house two hours later participating in our program and she gave me a big hug and she goes. This is the first time I haven't felt alone in longer than I can remember, because she, like me was a single mom who left an abusive situation, who was trying to parent her daughter, who was struggling. So it was like looking in a mirror it was me from you know, 10 years ago, right.

Speaker 2: 1:00:59

So that's what they often say is, if you choose to help and you do coaching or helping of others, like you're often, like you know, helping those who were you you know, years back and um and kind of the why of why we do it like my own personal why.

Speaker 2: 1:01:19

But you know the mental health statistics right now like 26.9% of teenagers ages 12 to 17 have mental, emotional and behavior problems. 42% of high school students reported feeling persistently sad and hopeless. Suicide rates 700,000. These are statistics from 2021. So you know this is from the CDC, so there will be more. I'm sure there's more recent statistics as well. And suicide continues to go up at 700,000 die by suicide every year.

Speaker 2: 1:02:04

I do a suicide prevention event that's five days long in September, every September, which is Suicide Awareness Month, and one of the videos that I have included in that it said there's like, think of it as when you brush your teeth, like there's one death every 45 seconds. So while you're brushing your teeth, three people die by suicide and it's the second leading cause of death among teens and young adults ages 10 to 34. 22% seriously have considered suicide and 10% of teenagers have attempted suicide. So I don't know it, just so. And then I did the some surveying at our high school and 72.5% of teenagers say they have anxiety Um 73 or wait. 49% say they have depression, um 30% say they have suicidal ideation and only 10% of those who think about suicide would actually tell someone.

Speaker 2: 1:03:20

So if you take all the teenagers, you know they're one out of. You know 30% of them are having these thoughts and only you know 30% of them are having these thoughts and only you know one out of every 10 would tell a parent or somebody else that they're having those thoughts. That's scary to me. It's very scary, um, because you can't help them if you don't know what's going on in their head Right, and then 53.7% have they would. The word now is like it's body image, it's body dysmorphia, like kind of issues with their body image. 23.5% have eating disorder, 24% ADHD, 17% say they're struggling with addiction already, 18% say that they've been sexually assaulted and 25% say they're actively being bullied in their life. So our kids, whether you know it or not, are struggling, you know, and some are silently imploding and some it's coming out sideways, whether it's not going to school, staying locked in their rooms. You know talking just bad behavior, bad choices and stuff like that.

Speaker 2: 1:04:45

But they have a lot on their plate right now and I cannot imagine, you know know, what it would be like to be a teen with social media and all the things that are impacting. You know, I tell it I kind of joke. I'm like you know, if I wanted to know what was going on in the world when I was their age, I would literally have to get myself up off the Davenport couch and I'd have to walk myself through the shag carpet and turn the channel on the TV at five o'clock or six o'clock or 10 o'clock to watch the news, or I would have to look at the newspaper.

Speaker 2: 1:05:23

That might have the top five stories of things going on more locally or globally or whatever. You wouldn't even know that much about what's going on globally. So even my own mental health, I've recognized, has suffered If I get on my phone and I'm scrolling and I'm bombarded by all the negative messaging about what's going on in this world. And it's, it's, it's, it's terrifying, and they're a little. Their prefrontal cortexes are not fully developed. I mean, and you can, you know, and I don't know.

Speaker 1: 1:06:00

I hear you, girl. I thought about that too. I'm like I cannot even imagine like being a teenager growing up in the way I grew up as well and having the bombardment of what we see coming through the phone, through just so many, too many sources. There's too much, there's confusion, um, there's an identity crisis. I mean, there's just so much going on in this world that if you don't have safe people to process with, share your feelings with, I can't even imagine. So I'm so thankful for what you're doing. I wanted to ask you for those who live locally. Now they have a plugin with you. Let's just say I mean, we've got people from all over the world tuning in here, maybe starting in the US and then going out. Is there like a database or a website that somebody could go to that you trust that they could plug into? Let's just say they live in New York or they're, you know, in Florida or California. Is there somewhere that they can go to that they could get plugged into? That might be kind of similar to what you do.

Speaker 2: 1:07:12

Well, one thing that we learned I mean I think there are good and bad things that came out of the pandemic, but one thing we learned is that we can make a tremendous difference in the lives of kids and in parents, remotely. Like you do coaching, and you're not just doing coaching with people that live in Bloomington, minnesota, in person, face to face. So we also do um support group and I have summits, I do webinars, um you know, and we're kicking off our parents group as well in the fall, um, so I mean, just go to the website or email me or call me or text me, and our, our website is kaleidoscope teensorg, and that's a hard I don't know. Sometimes I wonder I should have picked an easier thing to spell. Can you spell it?

Speaker 2: 1:08:11

Yeah, it's K-A-L-E-I-D-O-S-C-O-P, so K-A-L-E-D-O-S-C-O-P-E and then teens and it's plural, so T-E-E-N-S, so kaleidoscopeteensorg. And then my email like my name, it's T for Tammy Ryder Harms, so R-Y-D-E-R-H-A-R-M-S, so T Ryder Harms, at kaleidoscopeteensorg. And then I'm okay, I'm down If you call me or text me, whatever. Nine five, two, five, zero, zero, nine seven, two, three. You can. I mean what I found is you can Google my name and a lot of the articles that are in newspapers and stuff that have been written about what we do Will pop up.

Speaker 2: 1:09:10

And then check out our website. But, like our mission Is and again, I should have started with this, but our mission is to be the uniting force and communities empowering parents and caregivers and schools and community partners, all working together and supporting teens to develop coping and life skills paired with a career and or college pathway that allows them to thrive in today's world and successfully launch into their futures. So I don't know. My short one is we save and transform the lives of teens.

Speaker 2: 1:09:47

That's much easier to I mean and we operate off of, like, the pillars of wellness and faith being a core component of that as well. So there's. I divide what we do into three different categories, you know. One is support, and we do support groups. So we teach kids how to identify their emotions, how to rate their week, and then we have them share their highs and lows with each other and give them the opportunity to talk about, like, celebrate what went well, because our brains are prehistoric, they're wired to keep us safe and they they hardwire negative memories way quicker than they do positive memories.

Speaker 2: 1:10:33

And so and it's really really easy and almost celebrated in this world in a weird way, to focus on the negative, but teaching kids how to write like okay, like we were talking about our gratitude, kristen, you and I, like you know wrecking, like having a gratitude journal or something, just trying to wire their neural pathways to think in terms of what am I grateful for?

Speaker 2: 1:10:59

Like I might, like my week might be a two out of a 10, but I got to sit there and come up with something I'm grateful for and something that was a highlight of my week and then they can talk about. You know what some, what a challenge is. So those support groups are amazing and I think of some of those skills like if every kid was taught those skills and brought those qualities and those skills and teaching them how to support another not to give advice to each other, but how to empathize and support one another that our workplaces would be transformed, like the world would be transformed, I think. And then we do one-to-one mentoring and then we help people get access to resources like food and housing and scholarships, because we've begun been able to get free bikes and free computers and all sorts of things.

Speaker 1: 1:11:51

So I tell people do not tell me you need something unless you expect to get it, because I'm gonna figure out how to get it for you I love that we need so many more people like you in this world. Seriously right.

Speaker 2: 1:12:06

Or resources, right, yeah. And then the education piece of what we do is that, like, I don't think people should have to wait 10 months and pay $1,000 or even less in co-pays or whatever to get coping skills training. We are so busy like loading expectations and stress onto our, our young people, and but we don't teach them how to cope with it. We don't fill their toolbox with with ways to manage our. You've got to manage your mind. I talk about that all the time manage your mind, manage your mind, you know. But we don't teach kids how to manage their minds and how to you know, just have different sorts of coping skills for different situations. So we teach coping skills and then we teach life skills and we come together with. We partner with local businesses. So if you're a local business and you want to partner with me, like we teach kids about life skills, so we partnered with Nissan. How do you buy a car? How do you do basic car maintenance? We've partnered with a local bank and talked about what's your credit score, what is basic financial literacy? We've had a financial manager come in and teach them about investing their money. We've had someone come in and talk about how do you get insurance. Like now you're a young adult and you're renting and you've got to get, like, renter's insurance. Like most people, kids don't even know they need that right. And then there's this whole TikTok thing going on right now where, like, kids are being spoken into. This is where mute that mic, mute the mic, mute the mic, mute the mic. They're being told they will never be able to afford to buy a house. They will never be able to afford this or afford that or do this or do that. Like you know what, whatever they decide about their life, like was it Ford who said? Like, whether you say you can do it or you or you can't, you're going to be right. So if they believe that, that they'll never be able to do it, then they won't ever do it. And this is where you come into transforming generational like. Generational transformation is if we transform their minds into trusting and believing that they can own their own home if they want to, they can go to college if they want to.

Speaker 2: 1:14:27

But you also have to take responsibility and hear. Like, sometimes the difference between those that have and those don't is access to information. Like, if you don't have a someone who's an example showing you how to do it. How are you supposed to know that if it's does it seem impossible? And how to do it? So, partnering with businesses, like you know, with mortgage lenders and realtors, to help kind of set them up financially. You know, kind of think some Dave Ramsey kind of stuff too.

Speaker 2: 1:14:59

Like I did a little lesson for the kids. I called it leggings and lattes. Like if you keep buying those Lululemon leggings and those you know $8 lattes, like add up all that money and what would you have had? Like because if you, if you contribute I think it was like $200 a month from age 19. I think it's now I'm going to forget, so don't quote me on this exactly but 19 to 30 or something like that and then you stopped contributing.

Speaker 2: 1:15:33

You never save any more money. You're going to have over $2 million when it come time to retire. But if you start when you're 30 and you go 35 years from 30 to 65 and you put that same $200 away, you're going to have like under a million. Like you're going to have at least half, as that's the compounding interest conversation. So trying to get kids to understand, like automatically deposit a piece of your paycheck, always, always, always, that you do not spend. You know, starting from your very first job, you know, and then we can talk about how do you invest it and how do you save it or what can you do with it. But they, they can totally be a millionaire if they want to, but they have to have the right mindset. They have to have the education and the tools and know how to do it. You know, but it's so fun to see the light bulbs go off and go, oh, like TikTok's, not true, you know?

Speaker 1: 1:16:32

turn down the mic. I love that. I love, love, love that. That is such an easy one to remember. You have so many mic drops, girl.

Speaker 2: 1:16:41

Yeah, and then we help them get like, so part of like. So you think about a young person like you have kids that are like going into, going to get out of high school or left to go to college, like they're super anxious, like and, and part of it is like like people act like they're supposed to know what they want to do for the rest of their life. And that's a total joke, because there's no way AI is going to eliminate more than half the jobs that exist and by the time they're our age, there'll be 50% or more new jobs. So you can't possibly know that. So putting that pressure on them is so unfair and not correct. But but they don't know what's next.

Speaker 2: 1:17:19

So we have a college and career counselor that donates their $200 an hour time to meet via Zoom, so anybody anywhere in the world or anywhere in the US can meet with this person and get that free counseling.

Speaker 2: 1:17:34

And she said I love this about her. She said I am more worried about the 25 year old you than I am the 19 year old you, because you may think it'd be cool. Like this is, this is a prestigious school, or this is a fun school, you know whatever, but like if you get yourself so far in debt that you're living in your parents' basement after college and you can't afford a car or an apartment, like that's not a very good decision, you know. So she helps guide the decision. She helps them with the applications with the FAFSAs. We help them get scholarships and then now like and then it comes. Then I help them with internships and then we help with all of our business connections to help get them jobs. And we also help the teenagers get jobs, help them do their resumes, help them with interview skills and um you know, it's just so sweet.

Speaker 2: 1:18:33

Like and I go in and I advocate for them, like one kid. He applied and I I called them up and I said, well, I would like to. I would like to understand why you have not called this person for an interview, because here's the 10 reasons why I think they would be an amazing employee. And they said, okay, we'll have them come in tomorrow for an interview. And I said okay, and he didn't have it.

Speaker 2: 1:18:54

Wait, I mean transportation. It doesn't compute in my brain but it's like we're an affluent community, but when we surveyed our community, what's the number one challenge in our community? It's transportation. So that's something that in our world, like we don't often realize that keep like our neighbors are struggling to feed their kids. They are lacking transportation. So I know one of our local churches that's here, near and far, and there's a lot of money going overseas to help people.

Speaker 2: 1:19:31

But we need to open our eyes to our neighbors. Like my program, we've got to love our neighbor, love your neighbor, love your neighbor, love your neighbor. Wake up. And I know it's really hard because sometimes we want to stay in our happy little bubble and I've got a lot of people I know like that. They're like I don't want to hear it, I don't want to know it exists. I just kind of want to stay in my happy bubble.

Speaker 2: 1:19:54

But like we're not called to do that, you know, we're called to like, open our eyes and and and care, and and, and we're not called to hoard our gifts you know our financial gifts and you know, and so forth. Like we're called to share and to give and lift up others and do what Jesus would do, you know. So, um, yeah, so just helping them with coping skills and helping them like, if, if they know how to, if they're told how to pay their taxes or that they can buy a house, or that they can buy a car here's how you rent an apartment then you've alleviated some anxiety for them. If you help them define what their next logical step is, whether it's a trade school or, you know, a college or different sorts of things, or even a career or an apprenticeship Some of those things are so good, like because we've got to stop shoving the square pegs in the wrong holes. Every kid is not meant to sit in a cubicle.

Speaker 1: 1:20:59

Say that one again to do?

Speaker 2: 1:21:05

sit in a cubicle. Say that one again. Every kid is not meant to go to college. Sit in a cubicle, you know, and work on a computer all day, every day, like, and you know it's. They all are so wired so differently, and so the the trades, oh my goodness, there is so much Like if you have a kid that can't sit down, like I mean I would rather die than go sit in a cubicle by myself.

Speaker 1: 1:21:32

That's what I thought I had to do. I escaped, thank God yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:21:39

Yeah, I'm so glad you did because what you're doing is so important. But, like I mean, and some people are shy and they're, and they're really good with numbers and they're- you know, one of our kids is like a national honor society.

Speaker 2: 1:21:52

Like he's one of the top 1% in the nation of how smart he is, but he is, he's um, like just a little socially awkward, so I don't know all. I'm like I'm not gonna diagnose or unpack what's going on there, but like our group is the only thing that he did all through middle school and high school with other kids like and and our other kids aren't all necessarily as smart as him, for sure they are and and they all have different giftings and stuff. But like it's so cool to see these totally dramatically different kids, you know, and he just they would make him laugh, like and he would belly laugh because the kids are so silly and ridiculous, you know, and the other things that we

Speaker 2: 1:22:35

do to? Um, you know we do and listen, we do too. You know we do and listen. Go to our website, klyscopeteensorg, because I'm not very good at getting to the point, but we do a lot of excursions and activities with the kids and stuff. So one is the doing the album or writing a book, but we also work with Tickets for Kids. So huge shout out to Tickets for Kids. It's an organization that nonprofits that serve kids can work with and they get donations from like the Timberwolves and from the twins and or from individual ticket holders. They get donations of tickets that are going to go unused and then kids that are in the community that wouldn't otherwise have these experiences get to go do those sorts of things. So we get to go to the Vikings and the Twins and we get to go to the Ordway Theater and see the Nutcracker Ballet and go to concerts and all sorts of super cool fun stuff. You know we help them get internships and jobs. I talked about that.

Speaker 2: 1:23:38

So our collective like impact is we've we've fed now close to 9,000 meals to teens in our community because when for the group that gets together in person, we've, you know, we provide dinner and stuff and then we provide meals to families that, like some families, you know, I mean our kids are worried about what do we want for Christmas and we're trying to buy all these presents. Well, a lot of families one of my 12 year olds said I can't remember the last time I got a Christmas present, you know, and it's heartbreaking. And so I work with local businesses to help with that and get gift cards. You know, even just you know Chick-fil-A is always a donor and, um, culver's is always a donor. And then you know, even just you know Chick-fil-A is always a donor and Culver's is always a donor. And then you know different other stuff. Nissan actually did a drive for us as well. But also the thing to think about is that when families that I mean I have a mom who's had a master's degree and she's a teacher and she's also selling beauty products from the Dead Sea as a side hustle and she still can't afford her rent and her to feed her, like I mean, she's got a rugby player, she's got two big boys that like eat a lot of food. So some of these families can't afford to provide food for their families during school breaks. So during they're not worried about Christmas presents, they're worried about how am I going to feed my kids over the break, you know.

Speaker 2: 1:25:11

So we have 100% graduation rate. We're from high school school and in our community the last recorded stats that I've seen was 71 and 72% of Black and Latino students were graduating. 91 and 92% of Asian and Caucasian students were graduating. So there's 30% of the kids that are Black and Latino that were not graduating. Our school is now 50% kids of color, so that's not okay. So we are getting 100% of those kids to graduate. We're getting 100% of them on some kind of a college or career pathway.

Speaker 2: 1:25:55

You know we've provided over 350 free support groups and you know we at one time had 38% of teens had recorded that they were um, had some suicidal ideation, and they've chosen life Like they've, you know, and I, I, I told you like I, like I asked for that, that direct download from the Lord for that, because, like they trust me, and so sometimes with someone who's feeling super hopeless, you know, there's just a moment where they're done and if they have the means in that moment, then that's a problem.

Speaker 2: 1:26:35

So if they don't and they have a someone who they trust that they can call, you know, and and I mean, think about that for your kids, like truly think about that. Like I always was very intentional about trying to find another like-minded parent that I trusted that might, or a counselor for my kids, just somebody that I knew if they didn't want to talk to me which they probably don't, because they're not going to listen to what I say anyways, because I'm mom Like Kristen you could say to my kids exactly like what I would say to my kids, and they would hear you and they would not hear me. This is true, yeah, so I don't know.

Speaker 1: 1:27:16

I just I feel like this is so beautiful, Like I said, so beautiful what you're doing. We could talk forever. I feel like I need to have you on again at some point.

Speaker 1: 1:27:26

maybe comes out to share, more to share more and maybe even have some of the alumni come on and share as well, if they're open to it. Just throwing an idea out there Again, if you could just share your just speak out the website, your email, um, your phone number, and I'll be sure to put this in the show notes as well. I want to make sure that people can connect with you. Um if you could do that again, just as people are listening.

Speaker 2: 1:27:54

Yeah, absolutely. Um. So it's. My name is Tammy Ryder Harms and the organization is Kaleidoscope Teens and our website is kaleidoscopeteensorg. So K-A-L-E-I-D-O-S-C-O-P-E teens, plural T is 952-500-9723. And my email is just triderharms at kaleidoscopeteens dot org. So reach out to me. I mean, if you have a, I mean you know we're, we'll be starting new in the fall online support groups and the and the dream um. If we have people that are really invested in our mission and the Lord gives the funding. I mean I would love to empower other people and provide them with the curriculum to start groups in their area so that we can continue to expand Um. And I would love, love, love, love um international groups that get together online Um, because I think that it's really important to see that our experience is universal, you know. Yes.

Speaker 1: 1:29:18

Amen, girl. This is amazing. So as I do this, I do it for the one, and I would just love for you to to get in mind the one who's listening in today. Do you have anything that you'd like to speak over them today? And then would you pray us out?

Speaker 2: 1:29:35

absolutely, I will do both at the same time. We'll see if I can do both at the same time.

Speaker 1: 1:29:42

Let's see if I can do that.

Speaker 2: 1:29:43

Heavenly Father, I am just so grateful for the connections that you create, that Kristen and I were able to cross paths and that you've created this opportunity this is for sure divine intervention that we are here having this conversation today and I'm going to pray here for the one like, if you are the one like me, that I mean you could be a single parent. You could not be a single parent. You could have teenagers anywhere from you know, 11 to 19, or 19 to 25 that are really struggling. They don't feel like they fit in. They're feeling the weight of anxiety and experiencing depression, and it's coming out sideways. They don't feel like they belong, they don't feel like they fit in. They might be shy, they might not have friends, they're overwhelmed with the thought of having to decide. You know what the future brings for them. They're struggling because they have, like my kids, experienced some trauma and, you know, have some real legitimate pain that they're experiencing, based on things they're experiencing in the home or at high school, like if your kid is struggling, like I know, you're struggling too, and the Lord sees you and the Lord sees your teen, and I want you to envision your child in the Lord's folded, cupped hands. He is holding them, he has given them a piggyback ride, but he's also put people like Kristen on this earth to create awareness of programs like ours. That is here. I have leaned into my faith and it has saved my life, and he has led me to create this program to provide hope and um possibility and for kids to see their gifts and um. You know, just choose life too in some cases if your, if your child is struggling with suicidal ideation. So I also pray like the album that we did and and some of the work that we're doing is also in loving memory of my sister, who died by suicide.

Speaker 2: 1:32:14

Stephanie, my cousin, who died by suicide. His name is Chris, our photographer and a volunteer. Her brother, Roger Bloom, died by suicide. His name is Chris, our photographer and a volunteer. Her brother, roger Bloom, died by suicide. And so you know we are here to love you and support you and give hope to you and hope to your struggling teens, and so I just pray that the Lord watches over you, that you can do what I did, which is I just had to get to my knee and just say, listen, I cannot be with my child 24-7 to keep them alive.

Speaker 2: 1:32:51

She is the Lord. She is not mine and it's not up to me. I don't. I'm not her savior, she has a savior. But we also are given tools, we're given the word, we're giving our faith communities and we're giving programs like this to help you as the parent and to help your kids just know that they were born on purpose and with a purpose and help them thrive in life. So, if you are the one, reach out to me please. I gotcha and the Lord has you too. So I always say that the Lord's got you and I gotcha, so together we'll make it through this crazy thing called life. And so, with that um again, I'm so grateful and blessed to have this opportunity and we'll pray for the rest, rest of your summer and the kickoff of your school year in jesus name, amen, amen thank you that was a long prayer no, I love it, I love you are such a blessing.

Speaker 1: 1:34:04

So we've got everything covered with your contact information. Like I said, I'll be sure to put the information in the show notes and any other resources that she mentioned, I'll be sure to add those as well. So otherwise, I'm going to close with our anchoring verse over Hope, unlocked podcast. It's may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope, and that's Romans 15, 13. So thank you, tammy, for being a brave voice. Who's setting so many free, and I so appreciate you being here today. I will be back with another episode next week. Bye, listeners.