Treehouse Youth Outreach

I spent about four of my teenage years attending Treehouse regularly. It was somewhere to go a few days a week that wasn’t home or school, so I took it.
The volunteers who work at Treehouse are great; I don’t mean to disparage them or their commitment in the slightest. But I remember being a victim of physical violence at the hands of older kids at Treehouse and not once seeing anyone reprimanded. There’s only a façade of supervision and authority.
Sure, the field trips are nice and the free therapy can be helpful, but I’ve come to regret spending as much time as I did there. I was once reprimanded for reading a horoscope to myself by an adult volunteer because she considered it satanic. That same person left a handful of us at the Mall of America because we were five minutes late meeting her at the agreed-​upon place.
The religious conversations were often one-​sided and, as a fledgling yet respectful atheist, I often felt disrespected for simply asking questions. On the plus side, the answers were dubious enough to continuously convince me not to step foot in another church (also: don’t want to burst into flames!). I’m not the sort to ask a question just to stare with bemusement at a believer, or at least I wasn’t at the time.
Teenagers: If you’re already religious, you should just get involved in a church in your neighborhood. You probably won’t be surprise body-​slammed at a church. If you’re not religious, you’re probably not interested in the hassle of being around believers.

This is a fantastic organization that works to provide support and a safe environment for youth. I have volunteered at this organization for a few years now and can see the impact that it has on the youth that are involved with the organization. The fellow volunteers and staff do a great job at working with the kids.