MEET THE DIRECTOR

Phil Ludwig is the founder and CEO of Teen Rescue, Inc. and Julian Youth Academy. Phil was born in Anaheim, California. The youngest of four children, he grew up in a very loving Christian home. After high school he worked at Hume Lake Christian Camps, where he met his wife, Kim. Later Phil was hired as a police officer with the San Diego Police Department where he had a very successful career. In 1981, while Phil was on duty, his car was struck by a drunk driver, causing Phil injuries severe enough to force his early retirement from the police force.

It was during Phil's recovery that the possibility of a ministry with troubled teens and their families presented itself to him. During this time, multiple parents approached Phil about helping them with their troubled teens. His reputation for this type of assistance grew, and, eventually, more and more parents sought Phil's help. This led Phil to realize the critical need of assistance for parents and troubled teens. He did research to identify families' greatest needs, and, after a year and a half of investigation, Phil and Kim developed and founded Teen Rescue, Inc., a non-profit advocate that would eventually serve thousands of families throughout the country with struggling teens.

In 1993, while doing guest radio appearances with Josh McDowell, a well-known author and leader in the Evangelical Christian community, Phil shared his vision for helping teens. This opened the door for a facility that Josh controlled. Teen Rescue opened its first boarding school for teens on this property. Eventually a property for a permanent campus was purchased.

Not long after opening up the school on the new property, Kim, Phil's wife, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died four months later. Phil found himself a single father of two boys and managing the ministry on his own. He remained single for six years and committed himself to building up his ministry at Teen Rescue and taking care of his boys. Phil eventually met Lynn Balderas, also a widow. Lynn's husband had been killed in a plane crash when they were missionaries in Oaxaca, Mexico. Lynn came back to the U.S. after this and started having medical problems. She learned she had terminal pancreatic cancer, the same cancer Kim had. However, Lynn amazingly survived her case of cancer, and Phil and Lynn were married in July of 2003. Three months into their marriage, the JYA campus burned to the ground in the 2003 Cedar Fire. The program continues to operate in spite of this tragedy.

Phil remains the acting CEO of Teen Rescue and also runs Julian Youth Academy. He speaks regularly on family advocacy issues, addressing topics such as teens in crisis, family dynamics, parental rights, conflict resolution, and other topics related to healthy family relationships.