The Kings purchased a home in Lewiston, Idaho in June of 2008 and instilled in their blended family that “everyone is welcome and safe here”. Some children bring home stray dogs and cats. The King’s children brought home stray kids. Some who needed a safe place to sleep, food to eat, or a hot shower. Some who needed a listening ear or to play fetch with their dogs. Most stayed a night or two. Some stayed for months. A few stayed for years. The King house has served over 30 lost, abandoned, or abused teens.
It all began one night, after the Lewiston-Clarkston football game in 2010, when a 16-year-old girl from the Clarkston Marching Band ran to the Clarkston Police Station begging for help. In the Lewis-Clark Valley, there are very limited resources for teens in crisis, but the young lady pleaded. The police said, “Where will you go if you don’t go home?” and the girl said, “These band parents always said I was welcome at their house.” She stayed with the Kings for two years and was able to experience healing from her lifetime of physical and emotional abuse. When she turned 18, she took guardianship of her little brother and rescued him from the abuse as well.
When the King’s youngest child graduated from high school last spring, the family committed to establishing a sustainable solution for displaced teens in the LC Valley. They plan to move to a larger home with space and infrastructure to provide safety, basic needs, and healthy relationships for displaced youth ages 12-17 in the LC Valley. The LC Valley Youth Resource Center will be an expansion of the family home they have shared for many years. Ed, Michelle, and their youngest son, Tryston, plan to live at LCVYRC and walk through life with the children they serve.
Beyond the experience of sharing their home with children in crisis, the Kings both have applicable degrees and actively volunteer with organizations who serve at-risk populations. Ed has a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from LCSC. He has worked as volunteer coordinator/Guardian ad litem with Second Judicial CASA and as a house manager at Northwest Children’s Home. Michelle obtained the equivalent to a master’s degree in broadcasting and leadership in 2011. She served in a leadership role at Ida Vend Broadcasting for many years before joining a media software company in 2015. Between them, the Kings have served or are actively serving with Twin County United Way, Interlink Volunteers, Family Promise, Young Lives, Clarkston High School Marching Band, Lewiston High School Marching Band, and as youth leaders at New Bridges Community Church. Ed and Michelle recently opened King’s Korner on Main Street in Lewiston.