Get to know the founders:
Rick & Lisa Mannes

How it all Started:

My wife became a CASA for Ottawa County to help give a voice to kids in Foster Care.  We soon realized that there was a critical need for transitional housing for youth that have not been adopted and now are aging out of the Foster Care system at age 18.  

We began to pray about God showing us how to meet this need. God answered us in a powerful way by speaking these four words: "Go Live Out Love.” We didn't quite know what that meant at the time, but we soon came to understand that giving these youth a safe place to transition from foster care, or other unsafe conditions, was what God wanted us to do. From that moment on we moved forward with searching for a place to house 6-7 boys for our first home. God presented us with an incredible opportunity to purchase an 11 acre multi-family property on the North side of Holland that would be close enough to town but far enough away from life's noises that they could heal and be transformed.

With incredible help from individuals, local businesses, and community partners, Lakeshore LifeWorks Ministries first transitional home for boys 18-21 was opened in the fall of 2013. During the first year we learned that relationships built on unconditional love became the most important part of the process of removing trauma of their past. Moving youth toward independence with the help of the Church, the State, and the Community has become an amazing life and faith changing event for us. We have developed a structure based on love and accountability that has seen amazing success in the youth we have served and are serving.  

Lakeshore LifeWork's goal is to open more homes in our area that could house 4 young men, young women, or young mothers. We have decided that we would not move forward in opening more homes until we received the support of one or more Churches for a specific home. We believe in a One God, One Church, One Child approach so that the more than 200 registered Churches in our area can effectively change the lives of the, on average, 150 kids in foster care in Ottawa County, MI. We have developed a repeatable model that any Church can adopt which includes financial budgeting, program structure, supportive services, and training.  

We humbly ask that you would pray for our staff, volunteers, and youth as God directs us in the next chapter of our ministry. Please join us in praying that God will open many doors so that we may all "Live Out Love" and find our own meaning of being the hands and feet of Jesus. Lisa and I have already been blessed beyond anything we could have imagined!  

In His Name,

Rick and Lisa Mannes