PRESS RELEASE April 25, 2012

RAMP’s career development program makes strides for area youth

RAMP participant examines special optical glass manufactured by Chroma in Bellows Falls, VT.

In April, RAMP groups in Windham County had four different site visit opportunities to learn about careers in our region in the fields of science, technology and engineering.

Brattleboro Union High School RAMP participants toured the Chroma factory in Bellows Falls, Vermont where high-tech microscopic lenses are designed and crafted. (Chroma also has a Youth Services position that they fill by hiring one of the agency’s clients and mentor them.) Students from BUHS also attended an indoor session of both mechanical and rubber-band energized model airplanes at Landmark College.

Read more: RAMP program visits area businesses to discover STEM career options locally

PRESS RELEASE April 29, 2012

Artist Paul Stone Donates Sale Proceeds of Oil Painting, “Late April” to Youth Services

Paul Stone oil painting "Late April"

Youth Services announced for sale local artist Paul Stone’s “Late April” landscape at Gallery North Star in Grafton, Vermont.  Priced at $4000, the oil on canvas which measures 24 x 36 inches is a familiar subject for Stone— barns and out buildings, but this time painted in the bright hues of early spring, when the tree buds are first opening and the forsythia bushes add a riot of yellow across the Vermont landscape. Proceeds of the sale will benefit Youth Services.

 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.