Lovable, capable and worthwhile
Tough life circumstances can lead to negative life decisions — Quincy exists to change that for teens.
By Hannah Johnson | Royal Report
Bags of garbage piled ceiling high and dispersed in clumps make up Jeremy’s bed. Dog feces is stomped into the carpet, the stench trapped by makeshift plastic-covered windows inside the kennel-like trailer home. Insulation hangs by its pinky finger, threatening to fall from its designated place.
Bethel University alum Tami Moberg started the Quincy TreeHouse in Mounds View for teens at Irondale High School with home situations similar to Jeremy’s. The planning for the house began on spring break in March as a middle-class, white woman’s dream scribbled down on a notepad while sunbathing in Florida surrounded by loved ones.
The dream: to create a safe place to land for Jeremys of varying backgrounds. A refuge where each one can be reminded as often as the wind blows, they are “lovable, capable, and worthwhile,” Moberg said.
A partnership with Minneapolis-based TreeHouse, a Christian non-profit organization whose vision is “to reach every at-risk teen so they are loved, feel hope and realize life transformation,” put breath in the lungs of Quincy.
“We’ve (the Moberg family) been to Ukraine several times, I’ve been to Haiti…I have done these trips around the world and yet you only have to go a mile down our own road to really see poverty and to see conditions that no one should have to live in.” -Tami Moberg, co-founder of Quincy TreeHouse
Moberg graduated with a degree in Social Work in 1985 from Bethel University, where she met her husband David, a senior at the time, as a freshman. She worked up the nerve to ask an older guy to Nikdag. Now, the Moberg couple lives in a five-bedroom home on Lake Johanna Boulevard.
“We’ve (the Moberg family) been to Ukraine several times. I’ve been to Haiti. I have done these trips around the world and yet you only have to go a mile down our own road to really see poverty and to see conditions that no one should have to live in,” Moberg said.
“I come to Quincy because a lot of people care for me and support me. My favorite part is having so many new opportunities, like actually having a real Christmas tree. We have just a plain plastic one at home.” -Elena, 16
Quincy officially opened to students in September. Here, both girls and boys have a place to call home — for some, their first.
“I come to Quincy because a lot of people care for me and support me. My favorite part is having so many new opportunities, like actually having a real Christmas tree. We have just a plain plastic one at home,” Elena, 16, said.
An average of 8 girls gather for support group on Tuesday nights from 6–8 p.m. Every other Tuesday they learn coping skills, such as yoga and painting. On Thursday’s, also from 6–8 p.m., anywhere from five to 15 boys meet for their own support group, Real Men.
Hard conversations about their fathers — who some boys describe as “criminal,” “not there,” “a dick” — sometimes force the boys to storm out of the room. Co-founder of Quincy Wayne Andersen, who once experimented with drugs and alcohol as a college student, created the group at High View Middle School in 2010 upon realizing the boys’ deep need to be loved and cared for.
Moberg and Andersen combined the two ministries upon realizing their shared passion and calling. For Moberg and her husband, caring for troubled teens and children meant sacrificing their time and a few of their five bedrooms over the years to be foster parents to more than 50 children through Ramsey County Crisis Nursery.
“(My kids) can’t really say which bedroom was ever theirs because they switched so many times, having different kids come in,” Moberg said.
Fifteen year-old Aryius “Ballislife” Sears, according to his Facebook profile, currently lives with the Moberg’s — a decision he said he made so that he would be able to make better life decisions. Moberg now washes his maroon-and-gold embroidered Irondale basketball shorts and sweatshirt weekly.
When asked about why he goes to Quincy, “because Tami forces me,” Sears replied. But he knows better. “I know I can be a leader. It’s just me not bein’ lazy and, like, wanting to do it.”
Leadership is one of the primary lessons the students are taught at Quincy. For Bethel senior and Quincy TreeHouse mentor Jake Thompson, these lessons should be taught and applied outside of the house’s white, stucco interior, too.
“I was asleep…just wantin’ to sleep in, exhausted, wantin’ to sleep in, but (Thompson) decides to call and wakes me up at, what, 7 o’clock in the morning? And he made me and Rodney, my friend, go buy food for the shelter,” Sears said through a smile.
Thompson wants to build lifelong friendships with the students at Quincy, extending his time beyond the ministry and into the boys’ daily lives.
“Guys don’t need to join a gang because we have our own different kind of gang,” Thompson said.
Meckenna Woetzel, one of the other Quincy TreeHouse mentors and a sophomore English education major at Bethel, walked through the empty rooms in May with Moberg when the house still had “nasty” wallpaper and zero trim or siding. Now, as the house continues to grow, she giggles with the girls about cute teachers at Irondale and laughs with them when one girl lets one rip as another girl is sharing. She would agree, Quincy is its own kind of gang.
“It’s not just an effort on our end to get girls to the house, like, they definitely have parents who are dropping them off every single week,” Woetzel said. “I think it speaks highly of how much the Quincy House is doing and what it means to the kids.”
Want to Get Involved with Quincy?
Quincy TreeHouse Address | 5288 Quincy St., Mounds View, MN 55112
Executive Director, Grace Ray | grace@quincytreehouse.org
Program Coordinator & Co-Founder, Tami Moberg | tami@quincytreehouse.org
Boys Group Coordinator & Co-Founder, Wayne Andersen | wayne@quincytreehouse.org
To donate to the Quincy TreeHouse, click here.
Quincy TreeHouse Weekly Schedule
Tuesday 6–8 p.m. | Girls’ Night
Wednesday 3–6 p.m. | Homework Night
Thursday 6–8 p.m. | Boys’ Night
Written Q & A with the Students: Why do you come to the Quincy House? What have you learned since you started going? What is your favorite part?
“I come to the Quincy house because I was invited by a friend and he knew that I have been through a lot. And I learnt that I’m not alone and the fact that the Quincy house delivers a good message. We care for each other and look out for each other no matter what we did or where we’re from or what we believe in.” — Kali, 15
“It’s better than home and there’s cool people there. People have their stories.” — Anonymous
“I come because I feel loved by the people and adults. I have learned everyone has a story and some are worse than others.” -Kayla, “17 years young,” she wrote
“I come to the treehouse because I get a lot of support. I have learned that I am not alone.” — Anonymous
“For the people you know, the environment. From the guys, we all play play football. It’s a place to go after practice and relax…the talks — about after school and getting better at school, sports, family stuff, like how to take care of younger siblings and being there for them.” — Desean, 18, who has one younger brother and 2 younger sisters who go to school in downtown Minneapolis. He goes home every few days to take them off the bus because his mom works late nights and can’t be there for them. He first heard of the Quincy House from his cousin, Aryias, and from Mr. Anderson, who he has known since 7th grade.
“It’s a way to get away from just life.” — Baraka, 16
He comes to Quincy “to learn and to see all these children,” referring to his friends at Quincy. Also, “I help this girl with her relationship problems,” Dmazjai said, smiling. His favorite part about Quincy is “the environment…it’s like some place I can come to in a time of need or when I need help or stuff like that.” — Dmazjai, 14
Fun Facts: Some of the Quincy Gang (Biography Boxes)
Tami Moberg, Co-Founder of Quincy
Favorite food: anything Italian or seafood — specifically, crab legs
Favorite hobby: knitting, paddle boarding and taking care of her grandkids, Wyatt and Sawyer
Hometown: Hibbing, MN
Favorite Holiday: Christmas
Occupation before the Quincy House: paraprofessional — supported the director of the STRIPES program, a group of male Students Together Respecting the Importance and Purpose of Education in the schools at Irondale High School.
Meckenna Woetzel, Education Committee Student Representative and Mentor from Bethel University
Major: English education, theater minor
Favorite food: sweet potatoes
Favorite hobby: reading, writing and being outside
Hometown: Blaine, MN
Favorite Holiday: Christmas and the Fourth of July. “(Me and my family) order KFC, and go to the beach, and play beach volleyball and watch fireworks! It’s a weird tradition, but I look forward to it.”
Jake Thompson, Mentor from Bethel University
Major: Teaching English as a second language (TESL)
Favorite food: Cabin fish — lake fish, “it’s gotta be fried”
Favorite hobby: writing and performing spoken word and rapping
Hometown: Shoreview, MN
Favorite Holiday: Easter, “Celebrating Jesus rising and just knowing the Easter celebration, to me, should be an everyday thing…it’s just cool that that’s a holiday.”
Aryias Sears, Student
Favorite food: any kind of tacos
Favorite hobby: playing sports — football, basketball and lacrosse
Hometown: Gary, Indiana
Favorite Holiday: my birthday, February 15th, “It’s a holiday to me because it’s a day about me.”
Favorite college football team: Ohio State
Favorite pro football team: Seattle Seahawks
Dreams and aspirations for the future: to be in college, pursuing the NFL
