It really does take a village to raise a child, and Brad Shannon is doing everything he can to be a part of that village by supporting Cook County youth.

Brad Shannon has a vision.  With his background experiences and degree in Social Work and Masters in Divinity, Brad recently founded a non-profit organization called North Point, Inc.  

Brad served the church for 20 years as an ordained pastor, worked in Christian Camping and also worked at Cook County Schools as a School Counselor.  Brad and his family moved to Cook County in 2016 to run Adventurous Christians, which is a wilderness camp on the Gunflint Trail.

Brad grew up in the Twin Cities.  He spent some time in McGregor, Chicago, and Duluth before moving here five years ago. He is married to Brooke, who started a bookkeeping business in town for local businesses.  They have three children, J (16), Ryan (14), and Katie (10), who attend Cook County Schools. 

From a values perspective, Brad’s vision is to end hopelessness among teens.  He wants to create a safe place and experiences for local youth.  Brad believes that many Cook County residents hope for the same thing.  Part of his dream is to let kids know that they are lovable, capable, worthwhile, loved without strings, and that they have a future. He said, “Hope begins when teens begin to believe what is true about them, and what is possible.   

He is currently involved in the purchase of the Grandma Ray’s building which would become a youth center, providing a safe place for kids.  He hopes that through support groups, mentoring, tutoring, activities, trips, and experiences teens will find community and support.  Brad’s goal is to help teens gain the coping skills, and resiliency to overcome difficult circumstances.  

North Point is currently incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit and working on the tax-exemption process right.  They are under contract with a preliminary closing date of January 29th.  

A national youth risk survey done pre-pandemic indicated that 31% or 1 in 3 teens experienced a span of two weeks or more of sadness that affected their behavior.  North Point hopes to use this time of social distancing to rehab the building, put youth leadership in place, and prepare programming until we can safely meet with youth.  This project is created to help kids now in the present time.  Whether this venture grows or fails within 5 years, it is still beneficial to the kids and the community today.

For questions, comments or to learn more how you can become involved with this project, please contact Brad Shannon at [email protected].