PRESS RELEASE: June 15, 2013

Young Adult Leadership Award Receipient Honored

Brattleboro—Carolyn Erikson, 21, of Brattleboro has been awarded the Young Adult Leadership Award by the Vermont Youth In Transition (YIT) State Team. The award, presented to Erikson and 3 others at the annual Young Adult Voice Movement Conference, recognizes young adults in the state of Vermont who exhibit exemplary leadership and initiative in their own lives and affect the lives of others around them.

PRESS RELEASE: June 5, 2013

Youth Services Creates Director of Mentoring Position

Kristy Smith, Director of Mentoring

Brattleboro—Youth Services has promoted Kristy Smith, a case manager with Big Brothers Big Sisters, to the position of Director of Mentoring for the organization.  In addition to serving as program manager of Big Brothers Big Sisters, she will also provide oversight of the agency’s Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program (RAMP) which serves youth ages 13-17 in need of extra support at three high schools in Windham County.

PRESS RELEASE: November 2, 2012

The Snaz Takes First Prize at Battle of the Bands

Brattleboro—A teen indie-rock group, The Snaz, took first prize in Youth Services’ Battle of the Bands Friday evening during Brattleboro’s Gallery Walk Night.  Sponsored by The Richards Group, it was a fierce competition between area five bands that were judged on crowd appeal, musical technicality, stage performance and originality.

 PRESS RELEASE: October 14, 2010

 Big Brothers Big Sisters Hires Case Manager

Denise Forkin, new case manager for community-based matches

Lisa DiBernardo, case manager for school-based matches

Steven Sayer, Youth Services board president

Battle of the Bands during Gallery Walk in Brattleboro Nov. 5

New Board members Betsy Gentile & Amelia Stone

Meng Lu and Joshua Cunningham, new AmeriCorps members at Youth Services

Allyson Villars, Youth Services Executive Director

Brattleboro—Youth Services’ newest employee is Denise Forkin, recently hired as Community-Based Case Manager for its Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program.

Forkin is tasked with increasing the number of children served and the longevity of matches by providing professional support to children and adults involved in the program.

PRESS RELEASE: August 1, 2010

Rick Fleming Jr. Receives 2010 Tom Heydinger Award

Rick Fleming Jr.

Brattleboro--Rick Fleming Jr. was recognized by Youth Services this summer as the 2010 recipient of the Tom Heydinger Award. 

Named after a local dentist who was a long- time board member and former chair of Youth Services’ Annual Golf Tournament, the Tom Heydinger Award is given each year to a business or individual who has been instrumental in the success of the golf fundraiser for Youth Services and has shown exemplary commitment to the youth of Windham County.

PRESS RELEASE:  June 8, 2010

Ben Underhill inducted in Youth Services’ Hall of Fame

On Tuesday, June 8 Underhill was inducted into Youth Services’ Hall of Fame as the agency’s first-ever Most Valuable Player by its Board of Directors during their annual meeting.

Brattleboro—A glance around Ben Underhill’s office at Putnam Insurance on Western Avenue tells you without a doubt, the two things that he is most passionate about: baseball and young people.

Adorning his office walls are countless scenes of baseball games along with numerous plaques acknowledging his service to Brattleboro’s youth. Several of the plaques record Underhill's many contributions to Youth Services and its programs over more than two decades.

PRESS RELEASE: June 1, 2010

Youth Services Presents HIGHLOW Photo Exhibit on Youth Homelessness

The HIGHLOW Project features 24 large scale color images taken by photographer Ned Castle depicting the “highs” and “lows” of homeless youth in Vermont, including Windham County.

Couch surfing, living in places unfit for human habitation, or in unstable or unhealthy situations—not because of something they did themselves but because of circumstances beyond their control—is the fate of more than fifty youth between the ages of sixteen to twenty-one in Windham County each year.

The HIGHLOW Project features 24 large scale color images taken by photographer Ned Castle depicting the “highs” and “lows” of homeless youth in Vermont, including Windham County.

PRESS RELEASE:  May 30, 2010

Community Unites to Send Message About Underage Drinking

When adults give alcohol to teens on their property, those adults can face fines of up to $2,000 and two years of jail time for each underage individual caught drinking.  Even when adults do not provide the alcohol, if they are aware that underage drinking is occurring on their property, they can still be held responsible.

This spring and summer, the Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition is bringing the Parents Who Host, Lose The Most: Don’t be a party to teenage drinking public awareness campaign to Windham Southeast to provide parents with accurate information about the health risks of underage drinking and the legal consequences of providing alcohol to youth. The campaign message focuses on prom and graduation parties, and is a program of Drug-Free Action Alliance.