Teen Challenge is the oldest, largest and most successful program of its kind in the world, and was founded over 50 years ago by Reverend David Wilkerson. It was Feb. 28, 1958 when the 26-year-old Pentecostal preacher from rural Pennsylvania disrupted a highly publicized murder trial in New York City. Wilkerson had made the eight-hour drive from his quiet mountain town to downtown Manhattan for a simple reason; to speak to the seven accused gang members about their salvation. In a grave attempt to share the love of God, Wilkerson rushed to the front of the courtroom at the close of trial proceedings and pleaded publicly with the judge for permission to meet the teenage defendants. News media were everywhere, and Wilkerson unwittingly made himself the source of headline news throughout New York City. The judge had been receiving death threats during the trial, and Wilkerson was almost arrested as a presumed assailant. The judge later refused Wilkerson's request to see the boys and ordered him never to return to his courtroom. Wilkerson made more than the news back in 1958; five months after his discouraging day in court, his compassion for teen-age gangs and drug addicts began to make history. Since Wilkerson opened the first center in New York in 1960, Teen Challenge has grown to over 195 centers across the nation and over 550 centers worldwide. In Puerto Rico and parts of Africa the organization is building AIDS care facilities. Wilkerson also founded a global evangelistic ministry, World Challenge. Yet the Pentecostal preacher remains today what he was over 50 years ago; a man dedicated to preaching the gospel in the heart of New York City. He pastors Times Square Church in Manhattan, which he founded in 1987. Teen Challenge of Southern California was established in 1963 and includes eight regional residential facilities throughout Southern California. Last year Teen Challenge served over 200,000 men, women and children in Southern California through its resident and outreach programs. The Teen Challenge residential program continues to be one of the largest and most effective substance abuse recovery and prevention programs of its kind. Teen Challenge Southern California is a non-profit organization that relies entirely on the generous donations, funding and volunteer efforts of both individuals and organizations throughout our communities in order to offer services at no cost to the individual. We know that community involvement and support is an essential component of recovery and necessary to providing services that address the specific needs of the communities involved. It is the mission of Teen Challenge to provide youth, adults and children an effective and comprehensive faith-based solution to drug and alcohol addiction as well as other life-controlling problems. We are committed to enabling and equipping those we serve to find freedom from addictive behavior, to become socially and emotionally healthy, physically well and spiritually alive. Teen Challenge reaches out to people from all backgrounds, with particular emphasis on the urban poor, women, and ethnic minorities. We also give back to the communities we are in with outreaches, events, after-school programs and much more.
