Teresa Fanselow has been a member of YAC for nine years. Seven of which she served on the YAC board with some amazing board members. She currently is the Planet Youth Regional Coordinator, (PYRC) so she stepped down as a board member and serves as an official member. As the PYRC she coordinates the Hope Squad initiative a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program now serving five schools and is expected to serve more for the 2024-2025 school year. Teresa is also the Meadows Valley Coalition Coordinator. This Coalition was started in 2022 and now has 7 active members who coordinate weekly after-school events, a monthly Friday Series and will be hosting activities for the students this summer at the Farmers Market, amongst other things. She also assists with the annual Youth Summit YAC puts on each year. We just wrapped up our fifth annual leadership conference where students came to learn skills and tools to have the courage to connect, helping them be the best versions of themselves while helping others.
Teresa is the Director and Founder of Valley Community Prevention Services. A non-profit organization started in 2009 (15 years ago) to provide schools with substance abuse prevention classes. She and her amazing team of women provide character development classes and substance abuse classes throughout Valley and Adams County Schools every year. These programs served over 1000 students in K-10th grade this year. Outside of the classroom she serves as a volunteer for Young Life ministries. For the last 10 years she has been sharing her love for Jesus and her desire for students to know who He is and the abundant life He offers them.
Although Teresa enjoys her job as coordinator and director of her non-profit and being involved with the youth, the two young men that call her “mom” she deems as her MOST important job. She loves going on adventures with them, next time you see her ask her about their family RV trip they took to travel the United States in 2022. Four humans & their family dog traveling in an RV has a way of bringing closeness and adventure to a new level. Teresa loves being in God’s creation and spends lots of time outdoors hiking, going to the lake and taking pictures of wildlife, especially birds. She considers herself a bird nerd and loves seeing birds’ cute little faces up close through her lens. Her new passion is taking action shots of her boys and their teammates playing soccer. Raising good humans is not an easy task but with Jesus and a ton of prayer, she is learning to truly enjoy the simple pleasures of life and considers it a blessing to be raising her family in Valley County and serving her community in small town, USA.