Every Tree Started From A Seed!

The C.C.Y.C. Church is a faith based nondenominational organization.  Established originally to provide a positive environment for young individuals so they may grow, learn, and network together so they could remove themselves from the many negative influences which normally surround them every day.

Founded in 1983, by Dr. Robert Beloud, in Clear Lake a rural city in northern California. From a young age Dr. Beloud has always been filled with a driving desire to help others and the reason for his chosen career. The idea for starting a youth center and new church organization developed over time.  In 1972 Dr. Beloud decided to move his family away from Los Angeles to a more rural setting. As his children grew up he could see a massive void when it came to kids in the community. Clear Lake was filled with many retired individuals. However the population also consisted of younger people with children and over all the community suffered from extreme financial and economic challenges.  Most of the formal programs for kids such as the scouts were out of reach for a large group of the children because of the high cost related.  The cost of dues, uniforms and whenever a special project or a camping trip were scheduled the families had to come up with more money to be able to participate.

What? No Internet!

At that time there was no internet.  I know how were we able to communicate at all?  Raising funds for these kids to participate was very time consuming not to mention difficult and after all was said and done not very many children actually were able to benefit from all the effort. This is where the seed was first planted for the idea of a youth center. The same amount of time, money and effort could be put into a completely new program and be able to serve many more.

The only other alternative, at this time in ancient history, to get together was the local video arcade.   For those too young to remember this was a building which had a bunch of large boxes that had buttons and a maybe a small pole in the middle called a "joystick " .   I believe you can still find a few leftover examples of these at your local pizza places or  party fun center. Now remember this was a time way before any of the modern home gaming systems.  Much of the time the kids would hang out in the parking lot to talk and interact. We call this Facebook today.  The challenge with that environment the kids were widely exposed to the availability to drugs and alcohol which was a huge problem for the kids in the community.  Without any supervision or moral guidance it was easy for kids to get into trouble.   

The Age of Challenging Old Beliefs! 

During this period your options for moral and spiritual education relied on the traditional churches.  The main focus of all the local churches consisted of providing Sunday school for kids and traditional doctoral teaching depending on the denomination of the church.This was the beginning of a time of change. The mindset of just continuing to go to a church just because you were raised in that faith was no longer the accepted norm.  People began to open up to other views and question old beliefs.  This created a situation where the majority of families who would most benefit from some of the church services pushed away from them. So a second challenge was recognized. 

Two Challenges One Solution!

 So how do we address these two issues to maximize our results?  This was the question Dr. Beloud asked himself. Throughout the years he was continually driven to seek knowledge and understood the concept - Darkness only exists where there is a lack of light.  By bringing together a small group of friends ,family and members of the community whom all had similar christian based beliefs and were driven to help the kids who were in need of guidance The Christian Community Youth Center Church was born.  Early in the first stages of the new founded organization the beginning projects consisted of what would now be commonly known as mentoring. The kids were brought together in some after school programs to learn skills such as how to work on lawn mowers, sharpen saw blades, and other hands on types of education. All with the focus on making learning interesting from there point of view. Soon regular field trips were planned for weekend and summer programs. With the frequency of trips being increased and smaller groups of kids participating during each trip more kids were able to benefit and the youth center was able to cover the cost. Slow and steadily the youth programs and church was continuing to grow.

Catastrophes Give A New Focus!

Through out the late eighties and into the mid nineties Clear Lake suffered from wide spread flooding several times due to strong winter storms. The youth center and church became one of the communities many casualties in these events. Almost all of the resources that were built up over the years were damaged or destroyed. Rather than seeing what was lost, Dr. Beloud and many of the other directors of the organization realized that the church was now involved in many more projects than when it first set out to give kids a better place to hangout.  At this point the church had created partnerships with other organizations. One of the largest at the time was United Ways Gifts in Kinds program. The church was able to receive clothing,blankets and other nonperishable items to which they were able to distribute to families in need.

Lake County has a sizable local native american population which also suffer from poverty. At the time Dr. Beloud was beginning to learn about and embrace more of his native american heritage. This was done long before it became popular in mainstream culture, but we'll talk about that at a different time.  Dr. Beloud provided free and discounted clinical services to the local tribe under the church and other organizations of which he was involved with.  The church at this point now began to readjust its sites on the many other projects it was already involved with  but doing it with more passion and drive. The church continued to provided services for children in need, and always will, however as times have changed so have the needs.  With the expanded vision of the organizations reach we began to refer to ourselves just as the C.C.Y.C Church. This helped to reduce confusion and allowed for the churches added focus.

From Flood to Fire Another Disaster!           

The C.C.Y.C Church moved along another decade working with other groups and organizations. Providing services and helping those in need. At the same time building upon its core values while expanding on its spiritual teachings to include various similar views from other groups and religious beliefs beyond just standard christian teachings. All of this from its original starting point and main gathering place where it began several decades before.

Due to faulty wiring in an old space heater a fire started in one of the rooms. A swift response from the fire department kept the building from burning to the ground but the fire did quickly spread throughout, thankfully no one was hurt. The biggest challenge came during the following days after the fire. As the initial cleanup began it became apparent how much damage was done. Not only did the flames cause havoc, water from putting out the fire destroyed the rest. All of the documented memories, pictures, books, awards and achievements were either burned or washed away and unrecognizable.   Everyone knows that a physical trauma can heal relatively fast. Its the emotional injuries that are the most difficult to fix. A broken heart gives us a true test of our spirit and faith!  This was the largest challenge for the church to face even the choice to continue on was in question. Over the years after the fire the church  continued to provide help and guidance.  In 2016 the decisions were made to begin the process of focusing on two main tasks for the church. Start the long overdue function of updating the way the church can provide help to people by using all of today's technology to reach out. Secondly to move the headquarters of the church to its Nevada County Foothills retreat located in Grass Valley, CA.

Moving Forward Is The Best Way To Create Great History !  

As the C.C.Y.C Church celebrates over 34 years of being a part of creating better lives. Along with its own past of overwhelming challenges and great successes. We now look forward to the future always gaining more experience with each passing year. To continue to provide the values of giving, growing, teaching and learning to all young and old alike. Best of all to continue to keep adding to our rich and full history!