The DeKalb County KEYS Initiative is pleased to announce that they have joined forces with the Prevention and Education program of the Ben Gordon Center. KEYS asset specialist, Mary Hess joined the prevention and education team on February 21, 2012.
According to Kathy Hicks, BGC prevention and education program manager, “it really made sense to both parties to merge these two programs together. Asset development is a natural fit in prevention programming. Evidence indicates that the 40 developmental assets have a powerful, positive impact on young people. Children and teenagers who have a lot of assets get involved in very few risky behaviors–the kinds of problems we worry about. And when young people have a lot of assets, they are much more likely to do the positive things we value. By merging, the two organizations will combine their resources and broaden their reach to promote community based prevention, wellness and healthy lifestyles for youth, adults and the community as a whole.”
Under this new partnership, Hess will spend half of her time blending the developmental assets with existing community prevention efforts and creating additional strategies in an effort to engage the community to build a broader, more effective set of protective factors within young people. The other half of her time will be spent serving as the asset specialist for the KEYS Initiative. As the KEYS asset specialist, Hess will continue to perform various activities to carry out the mission of KEYS.
“We are very thankful for the partnership we shared with the Kishwaukee Family YMCA over the past three years. They were a wonderful organization to be a part of and very generously supported the KEYS Initiative. We look forward to working together on future positive youth development efforts in our community, ” stated Hess.
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