Every year, we love to take time to reflect and celebrate all the moments we want to keep with us. Your financial impact allowed us to celebrate some pretty big moments in 2022 including:

• Breaking ground on our Youth Shelter

• Offer onside educational and employment opportunities

• Providing additional mental health support and services

• Increasing LifeBASE programming.

This work could not be done without our donors and supporters who help us build an expansive pathway to healing for youth from crisis around Arkansas.

2022 Year-End Giving Update:

Thanks to the generosity of many, we not only hit our $300,000 matching goal but EXCEEDED it! This brings the grand total raised to $635,731.92 during the 2022 year-end giving season. To every individual, family, church, and business who gave, thank you for creating opportunities for growth and transformation for Overcomers in Arkansas!

Brody’s Story

Your generosity fuels a wide range of life-changing opportunities, including supportive housing, nutritious meals, educational opportunities, mentorship, life skills classes, and more. Through your support, Overcomers like Brody are given hope and the opportunity to overcome. Dreams, like buying a car and having his own place, are now a reality.

The transformative role of a mentor in an Overcomer’s story creates an unconditional relationship that leads to healing and growth. In the past year, 90 youth were paired with trained mentors at Immerse! One youth, Faith, paired with a mentor and created a special bond with this new member of her Circle of Support, Jennie. This relationship became a safe space throughout this year. Through moves, new jobs, and other life events Jennie continuously shows Faith that there are people in her corner.

“I was excited to be a part of someone’s life… growing that relationship. To feel like somebody could call me when they needed to, and I could help out.” - Jennie, Immerse Mentor

These youth-led relationships create a connection! Overcomers build trust and create a friendship with someone that supports them on their journey towards a renewed future.

While there are many reasons to celebrate during this season, we recognize that for many of our youth it is also a difficult time. On December 13th, we kicked off our 3rd annual Christmas Palooza. This season has been filled with Christmas lights, karaoke, gingerbread decorating, and so much more! At Immerse, we created our Christmas Palooza to help combat the feeling of isolation and to increase our support of Overcomers during the holidays. These events and activities help rewrite the narrative of many youth’s lives and build new memories during this time of the year.

This year, we were excited to watch as work got underway to clear the site of Immerse's future youth shelter. We, alongside so many of you, have been dreaming of and praying for this shelter for a long time. To see this dream take steps into reality is extremely exciting! This space will be the first shelter of its kind in the state, created to be a safe place for youth ages 18-24 experiencing homelessness and other traumas. 

Once completed, the 7,265 square foot facility will include 15 suites each with private bedrooms and bathrooms, a shared kitchen and recreation space, rooms for counseling, and outdoor areas. Thanks to the generosity of many, we plan to begin construction next spring and open its doors in spring of 2024. The shelter will provide critical safety and protection for youth when they need it most.