KEY Continues To Expand

I recently read an article in one of our local newspapers about the impact of trauma on young people. The reporter spent time with a few youth who’d each been impacted by gun violence. Their painful experience demonstrated how traumatic events ripple through a person’s life. These young people’s relationships, engagement at school, and overall sense of stability are all affected. Of course, this impact is even more pronounced when a young person has to face the possibility of violence on a regular basis.

Trauma is never the entire story. The young women and men we get to work with through our KEY Program are each full of hopes and dreams for their futures. It’s an incredible honor to be a part of their lives.

This year, our KEY Program has doubled in size to almost 50 students. The need is even greater, but that is what we have the capacity for at this time. Thanks to your generosity, every week at Dyett High School, students are gathering to build peace: in their lives, their school, and beyond. Under the leadership of our Executive Director, Markeyta Boone, and our two new facilitators who you’ll meet below, these young men and women are finding ways to orient themselves toward hope despite the trauma they face.