2025: Hope is POWERFUL!

Dear Five Star Life Supporters, 

Email from county probation department (February 2025):

‍“Good morning, Seth,I wanted to let you know I made a new referral to the FSL LIFT program. I met with Chantel, her mother Vanessa, and her stepfather for the first time yesterday. Chantel is violent toward her family and out of control at school. I helped them with the online application so they should now be enrolled.”  – County Probation

Every week, I get emails from local county courts hoping to enroll troubled kids into a program we started called LIFT that diverts kids from the legal system and introduces them to an alternative: Five Star Life.

Chantel, her mother, and stepfather were mandated to attend our LIFT program because of her poor life choices, out of control behavior, and refusal to listen to authority. She was constantly kicked out of school and so volatile that Chantel’s mom didn’t feel safe in her own home. The LIFT program addresses the core issues and mindsets that drive kids to dysfunction. Week by week, lesson by lesson, Chantel’s mindset, values, and beliefs began to change for the better as the program concluded. Below is the email I received after Chantel’s family completed the program.

“Seth, I believe it is essential for the family to continue in the Five Star Life LIFT program to work and build their relationships. Chantel’s mom said she has enjoyed and learned so much from the Five Star Life LIFT program. It has taught her a lot about morals and holding her kids accountable. Thank you and everyone at Five Star for all that you do.” – County Probation

Chantel and her parents did re-enroll and are still enrolled in the program even though Chantel graduated from the LIFT program more than 6 months ago, releasing her from probation. In last week’s lesson, we showed a video of a teenage boy having a complete meltdown. He was throwing chairs, attacking his teacher’s desk, and smashing computer monitors on the floor. It was a wild scene!

After the video was over, Chantel’s mom told the parent group, “That video perfectly represents how my daughter used to act. This program has changed my daughter’s life so much I can hardly believe it.” One of the vital areas of change for Chantel is how she functions at school. Vanessa told me that school officials recently walked her daughter out to the car-ride pick-up line to acknowledge the positive change they see in Chantel. They told Vanessa that she’s like a different person. Her grades are good, and she no longer gets in trouble at school. She’s a positive influence and teaches other kids how to live a Five Star Life by adopting the values and mindsets she’s learned. One of my favorite things Chantel’s mom told the parent group is, “We have something in our home that we’ve never had before: peace!” Vanessa went on to say that even though their other children are too young to come to the program, they go home and teach them the values and lessons. “Our whole family is Five Star now!”

Hope is powerful. I’m sure you can imagine that the other parents felt like they received a shot of hope in the arm as they are still dealing with their own challenging kids who vape, skip school, fight at school, shoplift, are in or are being recruited by gangs, and run away from home. Most are behind academically, some on the verge of dropping out, and many rarely attend school at all. Parents are often in tears sharing their stories of brokenness. The child they dearly love has slipped away from the right path. There is always a reason kids lose their way. Chantel’s backstory is that she was abused over and over as a child, something her mom was unaware of and carried so much shame from. Parents might not admit it publicly, but deep down most have intense pressure, guilt, and shame attacking their minds... how they should have done more and how they are a horrible parent.

‍We named the program LIFT (Leadership Infusion for Families and Teens) because it LIFTS the entire family to new levels. The unique thing about LIFT is that parents are mandated to attend the program alongside their kid. This program is impacting entire families because it addresses the two root issues: wrong mindsets and broken relationships with their parents.

The damage that one hurting teenage girl, like Chantel, can cause in her family, siblings, and school is destructive and devastating. Amazingly, her life is being changed by walking through our video curriculum with her female coaches. Through the Five Star Life LIFT program, this precious girl’s life has begun to heal and become whole in mind, body, and soul. Stories like this are happening in every LIFT program. Like clockwork, our staff and team of volunteers begins to build trust-based relationships that serve as a conduit for healing, challenging, and eventually transformation.

We’ve looked at data points across the country, and as many as 70% of kids who get into trouble with the law will reoffend, placing them in the pipeline to prison. However, our LIFT program has a 93% success rate at the moment, meaning when the courts refer kids to our program, 93% of the time they don’t go backward or reoffend. This is unheard of and why the state of Indiana has sponsored the program, and it is scaling to more counties.

The one consistent piece of feedback we receive from parents to improve the program is very surprising, “We want more!” Remember, many of these parents start out mad for being forced to attend but, by the end, are begging for more, and we listen closely!

As a result, plans are being developed to offer a more expansive ongoing program for families like this. Although the LIFT program is highly successful, the feedback from families is that they want more. Several years ago, a church gifted us a piece of property in Osceola. Our plan is to convert the current facility into a family resource center to better serve these beautiful families who are like sponges and want to continue to grow and learn how to build a strong family legacy. When families are healthy, they produce healthy kids, and healthy kids are better positioned to continue a positive family legacy. This is how we change culture!

As our clocks race rapidly to the end of 2025, I want to invite you to join me on a special journey. For the past few years, instead of writing a single year-end letter to our donors and supporters, we’ve written a series of letters for people to enjoy and then pass along to others to enjoy. Many have shared that they really enjoyed last year’s letter series, so we’ve decided to continue it again this year as we celebrate 20 years of changing culture and transforming lives!  Chantel’s family is just one family, and LIFT is just one piece of the Five Star Life pie. Over the next couple months, I’ll share more stories of impact and highlight special projects that are going to be game changers for how we reach kids.

We are truly moving the needle. I say ‘we’ because transforming kids’ lives DOES NOT happen by osmosis! It takes people committed to doing the work.  Our board, staff, volunteers, donors, school partners, families, and kids are all doing their part, but we still need more people to get in the game. What does getting in the game look like? For some, it’s thinking about making your best year-end donation to FUND THE WORK (like supporting our new family resource center). For others it’s finding a place at Five Star Life to volunteer and DO THE WORK! However, I’m asking ALL of you to commit to sharing this year-end letter series with three friends so they can KNOW ABOUT THE WORK! I’m also asking that you would follow up with those three friends to see what their thoughts are, or questions they might have about what Five Star Life is doing.

Thank you in advance for committing to read each letter and for inviting others to join you on this journey!

Blessings,

Coach Seth
President