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The Carson City Corps is now a daily gathering place for local youth.
In 2024, when Captains Ernie and Sara Evans arrived to lead The Salvation Army in Carson City, Nevada, they learned the corps had not offered youth programming for several years. Starting a youth program was one of their first goals.
“We want young people to feel seen,” Captain Sara Evans said.
They began what The Salvation Army calls a Young People’s Legion, a youth ministry encouraging character development and spiritual growth. The Carson City group—eventually named Side Quest—meets on Thursdays.
Kids begin arriving right after school, often by 3:10 p.m., to play video games, shoot basketball or talk. The program officially runs from 4–7 p.m., with the first hour left open for games and conversation, followed by a meal and activities including a short devotional, art or service projects, outdoor games or tabletop role-playing games.
“We try to give youth the things that we wanted,” Ernie Evans said. “We wanted people who listened to us and didn’t just throw a lot of rules at us; we wanted people who were willing to pick us up in the middle of the night and go to Denny’s and talk.”
Corps Assistant Buffy Linkul helped get the word out, and kids began showing up.
First was Connor, who completed community service hours at the corps. Two other boys connected through a parent who had worked as a Red Kettle Campaign bell ringer. Evans said one of them, Donovan (Donnie), wanted nothing to do with the program—at first.
But the laid-back atmosphere and Ernie Evans’ dry humor won Donnie over.
“Most of the kids came from Donnie,” Ernie Evans said. “He was pulling them in. He’d say, ‘Oh man, come meet this youth pastor.’”
Evans said allowing the youth to shape the program was intentional. They came up with the name during a group discussion. He recalls Donnie saying, “If anything, this is kind of a side quest,” and the name stuck.
For Christopher, 15, Side Quest is a fun place to be.
“I’ve made a lot of friends here, and some of them did surprise me,” he said.
Plus, it’s not just about the teens, he added. The group’s service projects, including bell ringing and packing Angel Tree Christmas gifts, benefit the community.
“This place helps people more than people think,” he said.
A significant number of participants are McKinney-Vento students—young people experiencing homelessness or housing instability, often living in motels or moving between temporary homes, Ernie Evans said.
Sophia, 13, said the group has taught her not to make assumptions about people’s lives.
“You can’t just look at someone and know what they’re going through,” she said.
Around the corps, some teens became known as the “hoodie kids” because they arrived with their hoods up and rarely spoke. And increasingly, the corps became a place where teens spent time outside the Thursday program.
Then in summer 2025, after learning two boys had been caught on a neighbor’s security camera taking snacks left out for delivery drivers, the Evanses decided to respond by widening access to the corps building.
“We said, as long as we’re here in the building, if you need some water, you need a snack, come in and get it,” Evans said. “If you need a few minutes to cool off during the summer, come on in.”
Evans said neighborhood kids who are not part of Side Quest also stop by for water and snacks under that same “as long as we’re here” understanding.
Along the way, Evans said they’ve seen significant character growth in the teens, and eventually, they saw the hoodies begin to come down.
“They show up without even having the hoodie, unless it’s actually cold,” Evans said. “They’re really out of their shell now. They joke a lot.”
Sarah, 17, said she saw the difference in herself. “I feel safer here than I do in a lot of places, and I get along with everyone here,” she said.
Evans said teens have begun arriving early on Sundays to help clean, take out trash and prepare the corps building for church.
“They know the space is theirs,” he said.
And beyond a place to be, the teens say they found support in the Evanses too.
As Lea, 13, said, “They notice everything.”
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