Sponsor FAQs
You are helping to provide your student with food, clothing, housing, medical care, job and life skills training, education, and school supplies.
To join as a monthly sponsor, just click the link below to fill out the form and select the Teen Challenge centre in the region you wish to support – or simply call us at
1-888-417-7777. Teen Challenge sponsorship is fully tax deductible and can be paid monthly or annually.
Most sponsors allow Teen Challenge to select a student based on the greatest need; however, you can sponsor a family member or friend who is a current student in the program. If you choose to be a family/friend sponsor please indicate the student's first and last name in the comment section.
Teen Challenge Canada has centres in Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Ontario.
Client Confidentiality does not allow us to provide the student with your contact information. However, you will receive periodic updates on your student’s progress through the Sponsorship Department. We are also working on a password protected blog that only sponsors can access. Students will be regularly updating their blogs with happenings and pictures in the future. Also, students do send a final thank you note after graduation.
Until we hear from you. If we do not hear from you, you will automatically be connected to a new student after your current student graduates. If you decide to cancel, we ask for two weeks’ notice. If you sponsor with an annual donation, we will send a reminder letter to give you the opportunity to continue your sponsorship each year.
Receipts are mailed no later than the end of February of next year.
Our students always appreciate cards for their birthday, Easter, or Christmas! Small gifts such as Christian CDs, devotionals, and gift cards are also acceptable. Additional monetary gifts sent to the student will be depoisited into the student’s account on their behalf. Please make sure that you indicate that this gift is specifically for the student and not a donation to Teen Challenge. These gifts are not receiptable.
You may write to your student via mail or through the Teen Challenge website www.teenchallenge.ca. Here are some helpful ideas as you encourage your student:
- Share how your faith has helped you in your life.
- Use only edifying language.
- Include a special Scripture verse
- Remind your student that you are praying for them.
For security reasons, please do no include personal mailing information in your letters.
No. The Teen Challenge (Canada) program is for anyone over age 18. Under-age applicants are referred to Teen Challenge USA juvenile centres.
The total cost is approximately $3,000+ per month per student. Teen Challenge’s operating costs are still less than 50% of comparably-staffed and equipped government drug and rehab programs.
Yes. Teen Challenge is based foundationally on the Christian Bible. People of other faiths may enter the program, but full participation is expected.
Residents are referred to as "students" to underscore the program's Christian education and structured life skills training, and the importance of program completion through "graduation".
Students enter the Teen Challenge program on a voluntary basis and therefore are able to leave voluntarily. Although we encourage all students to finish what they started, some feel pulled by outside pressures to leave the program early. Even though a student may leave early, they have still received valuable training about how they can live a life free from addiction.
Source: Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey
