The Moms' House / YUP! (Youth Unlimited Partnership)

From 1996-2001 I hosted up to 40 local youth (some gang wanna-bees) over for Dinner Speaker Meetings at our home twice a month. With topics including How Police & Youth Can Get Along Better (our first meeting) to Emergency Preparedness, Black History Month, Date Rape & Dating Violence, and guests speakers of police, teachers, fire fighters, and County Commissioners.In addition to the YUP! Meetings, there were field trips to not only job sites, but fun things like Seahawk and Mariner games (with transportation to those games provided by the Lacey Police Dept.) Also, Wild Waves, Car Washes, Camping Trips, Bar-B-Ques, an All City Hip Hop Picnic with our Lacey Mayor as the Graffiti Artwork judge, Eight Annual Back-2-School Parties at Skateland celebrating the “onset” of school every September open to all community members, with themes like: YUP! School’s Cool or YUP! I Want My Education and Mission Possible! YUP! was a huge hit! A mini-boys and girls club right out of my home. Not only a hit with the kids, BUT also with the local law enforcement and the N Thurston School District to many of our community leaders. Thurston County's former gang detective, now Lieutenant Cliff Ziesemer said to me in 2000, "Diane this County doesn't have a gang problem anymore, and it's not because of what we did, it's because of you and your YUP! program." That's what YUP! and The Moms’ House did for this community.