Project Ricochet

10/16/2026

🌱 ROOTS TO RISE | YOUTH-LED PREVENTION FOR A DRUG-FREE FUTURE

Strong roots. Healthy choices. Drug-free futures.

At Project Ricochet, we believe young people should not simply participate in prevention conversations — they should help lead them!

Through our Roots to Rise Drug-Free Communities Coalition, we're bringing together youth, families, schools, community leaders, healthcare professionals, and trusted neighborhood partners to build healthier, safer communities.

Our mission is to:

🌱 Elevate youth voices and leadership.

🤝 Strengthen family and community connections.

💚 Increase awareness of substance-use risks and protective factors.

🏫 Create meaningful prevention opportunities in schools and trusted community spaces.

📣 Empower young people to influence positive community change.

Prevention begins with connection. Change begins with community.

Together, we're growing a generation of informed, empowered young leaders.

Project Ricochet | Roots to Rise

Youth-Led Prevention for a Drug-Free Future

Funding Acknowledgment: Project Ricochet's Roots to Rise: Youth-Led Prevention for a Drug-Free Future initiative is supported through the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Award No. NH28CE004091, and the Kentucky Partnerships for Success (PFS) initiative, supported through the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (DBHDID) with federal funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Award No. H79SP083680.

10/14/2026

10/13/2026

🎓 THE FIRST CERTIFICATES ARE ROLLING OFF THE PRESS!

Project Ricochet Family Ambassadors are earning their credentials, and we are just getting started! What began as a vision to strengthen community-based prevention, education, and support is becoming a trained, credentialed workforce equipped to make a meaningful difference in the communities we serve. We are excited to celebrate our first Family Ambassadors who have successfully completed training through our Bet On You! Community Navigator and Prevention Specialist programs with Approved Training Program status from the International Problem Gambling and Gaming Certification Organization (IPGGC).

Represented here are are only 9 Family Ambassadors. 13 Certificates. One Growing Workforce. These accomplishments represent and reflect a commitment to building community capacity, expanding prevention knowledge, strengthening trusted relationships, and preparing individuals to serve as frontline resources for families and communities. Through Project Ricochet's Family Ambassador initiative, we are investing in people who are already connected to their communities and equipping them with additional knowledge, practical tools, and professional development opportunities.

Congratulations to our inaugural certificate earners! Your dedication, persistence, and commitment to community service deserve recognition. We are not simply delivering training. We are building a workforce, strengthening community infrastructure, and creating pathways for sustainable impact. This is the Ricochet Effect in action!

10/09/2026

💚 HEALTH, WELLNESS & COMMUNITY IN ACTION! 💪🏾🌿

Project Ricochet is excited to join Exhilarating Inc.’s 2nd Annual Health Day & Food Distribution Event!

Through PR Health: Community Fit, we’re bringing movement, motivation, mindfulness, and wellness directly to the community!

✨ Featuring Denessa of Majestik Maat Wellness, who will lead engaging fitness demonstrations designed to inspire movement, promote physical well-being, and remind us that fitness can be accessible, enjoyable, and empowering for everyone!

📅 Tuesday, December 1, 2026
📍 Castlewood Park Shelter, 201 Castlewood Drive, Lexington, KY

This community-centered event will bring together health screenings, dental services, wellness resources, community partners, and holiday food distribution to support individuals and families.

At Project Ricochet, we believe health equity means meeting people where they are, creating opportunities for wellness, and ensuring that every community has access to resources that support healthier lives.

Special thanks to Mattie Morton and Exhilarating Inc. and Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for their continued commitment to bringing meaningful resources and services to our community!

Come move with us, connect with us, and invest in YOUR health!

10/07/2026

Dr. Abeni El-Amin: Named a 2026 Healthy Kentucky Champion!

I am deeply honored to have been selected by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky as one of 10 Healthy Kentucky Champions for 2026, recognizing individuals whose leadership and work are improving health and well-being across the Commonwealth.

What makes this recognition especially meaningful is the Foundations acknowledgment of what we have been building through Project Ricochet: An “interconnected community prevention and health infrastructure” that has reached more than 30,000 Kentuckians.

Our work has always been grounded in the belief that communities should be more than recipients of health programs; they should be partners in designing, leading, and sustaining them. That philosophy is reflected across our work in community health, behavioral health, youth and family prevention, maternal wellness, nutrition and healthy-food access, workforce development, and particularly the African American Barbershop and Beauty Salon Initiative (BBSI), which the Foundation highlighted as part of this recognition. The BBSI is a model for building sustainable health and prevention capacity through trusted people, trusted places, and strong cross-sector partnerships.

Although this recognition carries my name, it reflects the work of Dr. Quinton L. Marks, our entire Project Ricochet team, community health workers and Family Ambassadors, barbers and stylists, youth and coalition leaders, faith communities, healthcare and prevention partners, funders, volunteers, and the families who continue to trust us.

Thank you to the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and its Community Advisory Council for this tremendous recognition. I am grateful for what we have built and excited about what comes next.

Read More Here: https://healthy-ky.org/news-releases/celebrating-10-kentuckians-making-a-difference-in-health-across-kentucky

10/07/2026

SEEDS OF FAITH: BUILDING HEART-SAFE COMMUNITIES

Project Ricochet is excited to announce an important expansion of our Seeds of Faith Community Health Initiative; bringing lifesaving equipment, training, and emergency preparedness directly into trusted community spaces.

Through the generous sponsorship of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky, Project Ricochet has distributed Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to Seeds of Faith community partners while building the human capacity to respond when an emergency happens.

⚡ AED Distribution
❤️ CPR Training
⚡ AED Training
🩹 First Aid Training
📜 American Red Cross Certification

Because placing an AED in a building is only part of the solution. People need the knowledge, confidence, and skills to act.

Our participating Seeds of Faith locations include:

~ Masjid Bilal Ibn Rabah: 1541 Russell Cave Rd. | Lexington, KY 40505

~ Greater Liberty Baptist Church: 330 Chestnut St. | Lexington, KY 40508

~ Bethel Baptist Church: 552 Ash St. | Lexington, KY 40508

This initiative represents what Seeds of Faith was designed to do: Bring meaningful health resources into the trusted places where people already gather, worship, learn, connect, and care for one another.

We extend our sincere appreciation to UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky for investing in community health and preparedness and to the American Red Cross for the nationally recognized CPR, AED, and First Aid training framework.

🌱 Planting seeds. Building capacity. Saving lives.

10/07/2026

BBSI & TRIBE Women’s Wellness: Partnership in Action!

We are incredibly proud of the continued growth of Project Ricochet’s Barbershop & Beauty Shop Initiative (BBSI) and TRIBE Women’s Wellness Initiative!

Tonight, Dr. Carolyn Dunn and Mrs. Rashida Thompson represented Project Ricochet at a Mead Johnson Nutrition educational event at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse in Lexington, joining physicians, healthcare professionals, and providers from across Kentucky.

This opportunity was especially meaningful because Mead Johnson Nutrition has become an important partner in our work through its support of TRIBE Women’s Wellness with Enfamil products. Those products are tangible resources that we place directly into the hands of mothers and families through our community-based network with the Barbershop and Beauty Salon Initiative, TRIBE Women's Wellness Comfort Care Closet at the Lexington Housing Authority - 6th Street location, Aetna Better Health of Kentucky, Floating Lotus Doula Services, and community partners.

Through BBSI, trusted barbershops and beauty shops serve as community touchpoints for health education, resources, referrals, and connection. Through TRIBE Women’s Wellness, we are expanding that infrastructure to support women and families across maternal wellness, postpartum care, family planning, education, and access to essential resources.

Partnerships with organizations like Mead Johnson Nutrition help strengthen what we can offer through that network and extend the reach of resources beyond traditional healthcare settings.

BBSI builds the trusted community network. TRIBE brings women’s and family wellness into that network. Partners like Mead Johnson Nutrition help us put resources behind the work. This is Project Ricochet in motion.

10/07/2026

🌱 ROOTS TO RISE | HISTORY. IDENTITY. CONNECTION. PREVENTION.

Project Ricochet and the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Roots to Rise Coalition of Lexington, Kentucky were proud to facilitate a visit to the Roots 101 African American Museum, creating an opportunity for young people and families to connect history, culture, identity, resilience, and community.

Prevention is bigger than telling young people what not to do. Effective prevention means strengthening the protective factors that help young people thrive: belonging, cultural identity, positive relationships, trusted adults, community connection, purpose, and opportunities to learn from the strength of those who came before them.
Experiences like this are part of how we build those protective environments.

Through Roots to Rise: Youth-Led Prevention for a Drug-Free Future, we are working alongside youth, families, schools, faith communities, businesses, community organizations, and other partners to create a Lexington where young people are connected, supported, informed, and empowered to make healthy choices.

Lexington is a Drug-Free Community and prevention belongs to all of us.

Thank you to the Roots 101 African American Museum for helping make history a living experience and providing a space where our community can learn, reflect, connect, and grow.

🌱 Strong roots build resilient young people.
🌱 Resilient young people build stronger communities.
🌱 And stronger communities prevent substance use before it begins.



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