Maine Community Youth Assistance Foundation

Programs: Fund raising events sponsored included community heroes dinner, holiday boutique pashminas for prevention. Sponsored 12 monthly meeting for maine township parents and community members on topics which included: communicating with your teen, virtual reality as a cure for addiction, drug paraphernalia, vaping and other teen behaviors, what to do if you dont like your teens friends, opiates and teen athletes, the opioid crisis, the voice of recovery, your teen and emotions suicide and the holidays, parents and parties: guidelines, gossip and many more. Partnerships with community organizations and businesses such as park ridge and des plaines youth commissions, park ridge, des plaines and niles police departments, maryville, modern med recovery, des plaines library and presence resurrection health systems in order to develop drug and alcohol prevention programs.

mcyaf implemented and coordinated community initiatives and education programs to prevent and reduce adolescent drug and alcohol use and to promote positive mental health for all teens in maine township. Mcyaf partnered with the park ridge police department to develop and pass a local vaping ordinance which encourages education over monetary penalty for vaping. Teens who are cited for vaping have an option of a $500 fine or an 2 hour education course offered to their parents. Sponsored afterprom activity for maine south high school to promote healthy substance free activity after senior prom. Sponsored youth empowerment seminar at maine west high school for district 62 and maine 207 students as a leadership day. Developed classes for alcohol and drug prevention for first time offender mcyaf was featured as a guest 3 times and reached 45,000 people in the chicagoland metro area on wcgo legal eagles am 1590 radio station to talk about vaping opiate addiction.