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THANK YOU!! STOLTZ DENTAL, DOOR OF HOPE, MEURLOTT CONSULTING, CONOCOPHILLIPS AK, The Well and R&D ENVIRONMENTAL FOR SUPPORTING OUR PARK!!
You can donate at www.firstgiving.com/joelsplacealaska! It is easy, but don't just give a dime, give some time!
Joel’s Place began in the hearts of Mike and Linda Setterberg. For 25 years they have served youth in various capacities; in their local church and in their home with three children of their own. It was through their experiences with youth that they began to see a need in Fairbanks. The youth needed somewhere to hangout, somewhere to belong. So started our journey…
Wellspring Revival Ministries was incorporated in 1998 and Joel's Place opened in 1999 in response to the need for a reliable, accessible and comfortable place for youth to gather.
We began meeting in the basement of a local church, and with our small group of dedicated volunteers we were able to have dinner and concerts every Friday night. As word spread about what we were doing we found that we needed a bigger building to accommodate all our youth. So in October of 1999 we moved.
Our new location on the Tanana Valley State Fairgrounds was just what we needed, a big room with a commercial kitchen and bathrooms. What more could we want? We continued to grow and as we gathered more volunteers we were able to be open more days of the week. Until we were open every day but Sunday.
Eventually we started having youth worship on Fridays and concerts on Saturdays. It was through our Saturday concerts that we attracted many musicians, artists and skateboarders. While working with this group we found another need in our community; the need for indoor recreation, namely an indoor skate park.
So we started building our vision for a music venue and skate park. In September of 2004 we moved again…we found a warehouse to rent one mile from the fairgrounds, where we had been meeting, on the bus line, and within walking distance of most of the youth we serve. Inside the warehouse there is a concert area complete with sound system, pool table and foosball. Enough room for a couple hundred crazy concert goers.
The youth have been an integral part of decorating by painting murals and building skate ramps. However, in 2005 Betenbough foundation gave us a $35,000 grant to build new ramps in our skate park. The American Ramp company sent Pro skater Judd Heald to help us build our new ramps.
In September 2006 we completed renovations on the kitchen and opened “Los Niños Café” offering free and reduced cost food and drink for our youth. The café also offers a place for young artists to display their art.
We are pleased to offer such a wonderful skate park and youth center to our community as a love gift.
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