Helen Akins was already on a path as a servant of Christ well before becoming Mrs. Jerry Young. 

Helen Akins attended Rust College before she met Jerry Young. Rust College was the catalyst that brought him into her orbit when he asked to borrow a copy of her Time Magazine for one of his assignments. Rust College had already laid the foundation via her business degree for her professional work as an educator and administrator at the New Hope Christian Pre-School, where she would later make her mark and prepare her for her role as first lady of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.

Being married to Dr. Jerry Young and becoming the first lady of one of the most influential Baptist churches in Mississippi and the first lady to the president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., are titles requiring a certain amount of anonymity.  Mrs. Young worked tirelessly behind the scenes to support her husband’s high-profile roles at the local and national levels.  

In a 2020 news article, Dr. Young stated: “Helen takes care of the things that I don’t have to think about…She has taken care of our home, children, grandchildren, and me since we were married in 1974.” She is a strong tower of strength for her family and community. Mrs. Young is the mother of two daughters, Jerlen and Kelli, and now, along with several grandchildren who she says, “I love with all my heart.”

There is another side of the preacher’s wife that manifested itself when Mrs. Young became an integral part of what is now the New Hope Christian School.  Her calling as an educator led her to teach the very young. She became the head of the Pre-School Program at New Hope utilizing her Rust College Business Administration degree and a love for improving the plight of and meeting the educational needs of Jackson’s youngest citizens. 

Since Mrs. Young took the helm of the pre-school, she had numerous repeat customers. Numerous alumni of the pre-school have returned with their children because they wanted them to receive the highest level of education and to be nurtured in a most loving Christian environment that New Hope and Mrs. Young are so famously known to provide. This writer too has been so impressed with the stellar reputation of the New Hope School that I took my grandchild to New Hope to get some of the love and nurturing Mrs. Young and her staff so freely lavish upon all of their students.

On several occasions, Mrs. Young has been named Mother of the Year by her Baptist church family where she always greets her students and their parents with a hug and a smile.  Being First Lady of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., provided Mrs. Young a larger platform to extend her calling as an educator, which has allowed her to be a guest speaker for several community organizations and an opportunity to fellowship with the wives of other pastors who are members of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., during her husband’s tenure as president.

Mrs. Young has utilized her Business Administration degree to engage and support the New Hope Christian School’s fundraising efforts over the years by spearheading efforts to achieve its financial goals over the years, alongside overseeing and achieving the pre-school’s accreditation. Even while being the First Lady of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., and its many duties and responsibilities, Mrs. Young continues to put an indelible footprint on the community at large, often being sought to assist families in times of crisis through financial support and putting her favorite scripture into action…Proverbs 3:5-6-“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths.”