Ladders to Peace™
You don't have to walk this road alone.
For parents, guardians, and mentors walking alongside a young person facing behavioral struggles, substance use, hopelessness, or disconnection — there is a steadier way forward.
Small steps today. Brighter tomorrows.
The approach
Understand more. Notice more. Connect better.
Four movements that shape everything we teach — and everything we do together.
Free & private
Not sure what the next rung should be?
Ask Ally is a free, private guide that helps you think through a challenge, one gentle question at a time, using the Help My Youth Compass™ — safety, connection, understanding, action, and support.
Come back as often as you like. Ally helps you find clarity for today and suggests a check-in date so you don't have to carry it alone.
No cost. Conversations stay private and saved for you.
A word from Chris before you begin
“You don't have to have all the answers. But you do need to know what to do next.”
Push too hard and they may pull away. Say nothing and you wonder whether you're ignoring something important. Underneath all of it sits one frightening question: what if I get this wrong? This isn't about climbing the whole ladder today. It's about finding the next rung.
Where are you right now?
Three levels of help — one journey
These aren't three products. They're three rungs of the same ladder. Start where you are; move when you're ready.
WALK WITH US
5-Day Private Mentoring Challenge
Free
“Help me identify my next step.”
EXPLORE THE PRIVATE CHALLENGE
The path
Understand → Apply → Be Guided
Understand
Begin to see what may be happening beneath the behavior — and examine your own responses with honesty and compassion.
Apply
Work through the Start Here roadmap, Companion Workbook, Warning Signs Checklist, Connection Map, 7-Day Connection Reset, and Next Rung Action Plan to turn insight into steady, intentional action.
Be Guided
When you're ready, apply for five private one-on-one conversations to identify your clearest next step — with no obligation afterward.
Chris & Jesse's story
Nineteen years of walking beside a young man he loved as a son
Ladders to Peace grew out of Chris Martin's roughly nineteen-year mentoring relationship with Jesse — a young man he came to love as a son, and who ultimately died by suicide.
This program exists so that what Chris learned — about presence, patience, boundaries, and hope — can serve other families still in the middle of the climb.
Read the Book — $9.95Also available in paperback at Barnes & Noble.
Our philosophy
Side by side, never pulled
We don't believe in dragging a young person toward change. We believe in walking beside them — rung by rung — while the adults who love them learn to respond with intention instead of fear.
Every tool we offer is built on the same conviction: connection comes before correction, and small, steady steps outperform dramatic gestures.
A clear boundary, stated plainly.
Ladders to Peace is an educational mentoring program. It is not psychotherapy, medical care, addiction treatment, diagnosis, crisis intervention, or emergency response. If a young person may be in immediate danger, please don't wait for us — get immediate help now.