August 22, 2025
Mercy Home’s spiritual retreats allow our young people to get away from the stresses of daily life and take time to reflect, build community, and have fun.
This summer our young men spent a weekend in the quiet beach town of Lake Geneva, Wis, for their biannual spiritual retreat.
“There’s something really special about taking the kids away from Mercy Home [for a weekend], and giving them some space to think and reflect,” said Marc Velasquez, Director of Milieu Training & Spiritual Culture.
As the young men stepped out of their comfort zones, they reflected on their identities, their values, and the people, experiences, and places that have shaped them. They examined their life goals and how their past experiences have made them into the people they are today.
To help guide these reflections and conversations, the retreat featured activities centered around personal identity and relating to others. For example, they were given three puzzle pieces that symbolized themselves as individuals and combined those pieces into a four-foot puzzle.
“We wanted them to see [themselves], as a part of a bigger whole,” Velasquez said.
In another activity, participants designed road signs to help them envision their paths forward and help guide them toward their goals. Some of the signs read: “Go slow,” “be cautious,” or “be patient.”
“[They] were thinking about where they needed to go, and the guidance they needed along their journey,” Velasquez said.
During the third activity, they made vision cubes, on which they wrote messages for their futures. In setting the cubes adrift on the water of the lake participants symbolically launched their potential into motion.
“[These activities and experiences] force them to be more intentional about what they’re doing, and allows them to have fun,” Velasquez said.
Watching our boys just be kids and play in the water was one of Velasquez’s favorite memories of the retreat.
The retreat gave our youth a balance of reflection, fun, and bonding with their peers and staff. And Velasquez believes that retreats allow our youth to connect with themselves and the world around them.
“At its core, what retreats are really about is [learning] how I’m connected to others and myself,” he said.
Narjae, a Mercy Home resident, attended the retreat for the first time and said it was more than he could have imagined.
“The best part was connecting with my peers and having laughs,” Narjae said. “It was a lot of fun getting [in touch] with our spiritual selves and focusing on ourselves.”
He also learned more about himself and created a deeper bond with his peers and staff.
“I learned how to be more peaceful with others, and how to step away from situations to prevent them from escalating,” Narjae said.
Velasquez credits our coworkers for creating a safe space for our youth to have an enjoyable experience.
“They were great at creating activities, but also giving space for intentionality and reflection,” Velasquez said. I think the kids ended up getting the most out of it because of that.
Thank you to all our coworkers who gave our young men a meaningful retreat experience!
A special thanks to the Lynch Family Foundation for generously supporting our youth as their nurture their spiritual lives and build meaningful relationships. Through their kindness, Mercy Home can provide so many opportunities for our young people to heal and grow in their lives.
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