Who We Are
At Aspire For Greatness, we believe every young person has immeasurable worth because they were intentionally created by God, uniquely gifted, and created on purpose for a purpose.
No young person's value is determined by their circumstances, mistakes, abilities, or background.
Every youth who walks through our doors deserves to be seen, known, encouraged, challenged, and loved.
Everything we do begins with that belief.
Aspire is more than an out-of-school-time program. We are a relationship-centered youth development organization that exists to help young people successfully transition into adulthood by discovering who they are, developing who they are becoming, and confidently pursuing the purpose for which they were created.
Whether we are playing a game, eating a meal, leading a Bible study, building a robot, taking a field trip, cooking together, volunteering, participating in sports, exploring careers, or simply having a conversation, every activity exists to accomplish something deeper.
Our role is not to rescue young people or simply entertain them. Our role is to walk alongside them—helping them overcome barriers, recognize their strengths, ask thoughtful questions, develop critical thinking skills, build healthy relationships, and discover the hope that comes from knowing they are deeply loved and created for a purpose.
We hope every young person who participates in Aspire leaves knowing:
I belong.
I have value.
I have gifts worth developing.
I can overcome the challenges I face.
I have caring adults who believe in me.
I have the character and skills to succeed.
I have a hopeful future.
I was created on purpose for a purpose by the Creator.
When young people believe those truths, they become resilient leaders, engaged learners, dependable employees, loving family members, faithful servants, and active community members.
That is how Aspire changes the world—one young person at a time.
Aspire's History
Aspire for Greatness began as a labor of love for Founder Dave Hahn who saw a need for the older youth of the Fremont community that was left unmet. He reached out to his financial advisor at RetirePath Advisors and joined together with several other people to form a new youth program from scratch to provide a safe environment for older youth in the community.
In 2020 Aspire for Greatness was formed as a non-profit organization, and then accepted by the Fremont Area Community Foundation as a fiscal sponsor. In June 2021 Good Shepherd Lutheran church graciously offered to host our program so that we could begin in September 2021, with the Fremont Presbyterian Church offering us space to run our program in conjunction with the community wide summer lunch program in the summer of 2022. Transportation remained a barrier for the youth who wanted to participate in our program when we first opened our doors. Standing Stone Bible church in Gretna graciously made a way for our first vehicle which we immediately filled. Tailgate Motor Company, Sid Dillon, and the Fremont KENO fund stepped in to provide additional funding.
Without the support of those faithful few Aspire would not be here today.
For the youth in our community to reach their full potential there are several needs that we intend to meet. The goal of Aspire for Greatness is to provide those youth with a safe and encouraging environment, access to caring adults, food, physical activity, lessons on social emotional and spiritual topics, and substance use prevention education during out of school time. At our heart, our program is dedicated to fostering a sense of community, self-worth, purpose, hope, and value in older youth.
Aspire for Greatness offers a safe place, access to supportive adults, snacks and meals, faith-based lessons, mentoring opportunities, physical activities, clubs and other enrichment opportunities, incentives for positive behaviors and academic achievements, and an opportunity to build community in-house as well as with community partners. We continue to provide services in areas of the community where youth services are needed, specifically for youth in middle school and high school and are working to build capacity to provide programs for young adults as well.
Staff & Board of Directors:
Aaron Von Behren began with Aspire in June 2022 as the first hired staff member, bringing the program to fruition and serving as Program Coordinator (and many unofficial titles) for the afterschool and summer programs until his unexpected passing on January 17, 2024. His presence is greatly missed, but the impact he had on the program will have a lasting impact on Aspire as a program, as well as all of the individual lives touched by Aaron's heart for those around him, his kindness, character, willingness to go above and beyond in everything he did, and his boldness in sharing the hope and healing found in the Bible.
In addition to founding Aspire, Dave Hahn also served as the President of the Board of Directors until his passing on February 2, 2023. The current Aspire Board of Directors includes President Mark Bohlmann, Vice President Adam Marshall, Secretary Cindy Reed, Treasurer Zach Weber, and members Heather Walraven, Tom Holt, Tom Sunderman, and Kristen Widman.