Leelanau Investing For Teens (LIFT), a Suttons Bay-based youth-focused organization, “will officially transition into its own independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization,” per to a press release sent to local media this week. Up until now, LIFT has existed under the umbrella of another nonprofit, Suttons Bay’s Friendship Community Center. Striking out on its own “represents a natural and positive evolution” for LIFT, according to Friendship Community Center board president Juliana Lisuk.

LIFT launched in 2017 with the aim of providing more after-school and outside-of-school enrichment programming for middle school and high school students in Suttons Bay. The organization has since expanded to all four public school districts in Leelanau County – Suttons Bay, Glen Lake, Northport, and Leland – and has served more than 400 county students.

Breaking off as its own nonprofit organization “reflects the strength, sustainability, and readiness of LIFT Teen Center to move into its next chapter as a standalone organization,” according to the press release. As part of the change, LIFT founder Rebekah TenBrink, who has been serving as executive director for both LIFT and the Friendship Community Center, “will transition to serve solely as executive director of LIFT.”

“LIFT was built through community, trust, and a shared commitment to young people,” said TenBrink said of the news. “I am incredibly grateful for The Friendship Community Center’s belief in this program and for the opportunity to grow LIFT within its structure over the past eight years. Becoming an independent nonprofit allows LIFT to continue expanding its impact while honoring the roots that made it possible.”

“We are deeply proud of what LIFT Teen Center has become and of Rebekah’s leadership,” added Lisuk. “As LIFT steps forward independently, our board is actively seeking pathways for future leadership to guide The Friendship Community Center into its next season.”

The Friendship Community Center, described as “a community-based nonprofit dedicated to fostering connection, belonging, and support through inclusive programming and partnerships,” will continue to operate without LIFT as part of its structure.