It is late at night — probably well past midnight, but Pam Rosener had been working long enough that the minutes blurred together. At her desk that night, working on the latest details for the Young Men’s Service League (YMSL), Rosener says she felt the Lord stir in her heart.
This could be everywhere, she thought. We could take this nation-wide.
Two decades later, Rosener’s organization has expanded to 132 chapters in 18 states. Last year, YMSL — an organization that sends a mother and son pair to local charities — completed 650 thousand hours of community service.
“The world is difficult right now,” Rosener says. “It’s difficult for a lot of people. I am very fortunate to be able to have what I have. I have a big heart for people who are struggling, because we all have to take care of each other.” she says.
When her daughter was entering seventh grade, Rosener enrolled her daughter and herself in the National Charity League, a program that teaches young girls about community service and etiquette. She wanted to do a similar thing with her three sons, so she began researching organizations to enroll in.
She found none.
“That was why we started it,” Rosener says. “We wanted to serve side by side with our sons — to spend time with them and teach them a little bit more about the world.”
In 2001, Rosener and her team launched YMSL in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Most philanthropies previously worked with girls. Rosener says she had to prove that the mother and son teams would show up when they said they would and provide something worthwhile.
“We built trust,” she says. “They took us skeptically, but now there are a lot of philanthropies who just love, love, love our organization.”
YMSL’s four-year program also teaches leadership and life skills, such as how to change a tire and first aid.
“We are really looking at the whole young man,” Rosener says. “We’re trying to build his heart and compassion, but we’re also trying to make him a better human going forward. In the end, we want him to be a positive influence on our society.”
On top of running the organization, Rosener works full time in real estate. When she was first beginning YMSL, she couldn’t start working on the organization until late in the evening. She was also taking care of her four kids. She said it has been her biggest challenge.
“Sometimes, I think that I can’t do it,” Rosener says. “But then it wraps me back in. I hear the hangers that we’re making people’s lives, and I just know that it’s what I’m supposed to do. I didn’t plan on doing what I’m doing. It just happened, and I’m very fortunate to be around amazing people who helped me.”
Though YMSL has grown to a 93-person leadership team, Rosener says she doesn’t plan on stopping there. She wants to continue creating new chapters, which takes approximately 90 days, and earn enough to financially sustain the organization.
“Take it one step at a time,” she says. “That’s what I always tell myself. When you share a vision with people, your natural talents will fall in place. Then you just take it one step at a time, and you look back to see all you’ve done. It’s a cause worth celebrating.”
