The Montgomery County Youth Service Bureau celebrated 55 years with a celebration popper organized by the Crawfordsville/Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.
Staff, board members, students from the Montgomery County Alternative School and community members gathered for the celebration.
Executive Director Karen Branch recognized CASA Director Jane Christopherson for her 42 years of service. Both Branch and Christopherson are retiring at the end of the year.
The MCYSB serves more than 4,000 youth each year through its many programs, including CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), Teen Court, the Montgomery County Alternative School, Drug Free Montgomery County and the Nourish Program.
“It all started with a dream and the League of Women Voters here in Montgomery County,” Branch said. “They had a vision that they wanted to prevent delinquency.”
Branch said the LWV spent nearly two years studying delinquency prevention and visited other youth service bureaus before establishing the MCYSB.
Their budget 55 years ago began with $35,950 and three staff members. They now have a budget of nearly $1 million and 12 staff members.
“We went from being a drop-in center to having 10 programs that all work to help kids in our community. We went from serving 300 kids a year to more than 3,000 kids every year, and it’s all because of the community support that we have grown to meet the needs of today’s youth, because it’s a bit different than it was in 1971,” Branch said.
