About Us

Mis­sion

We part­ner with com­mu­ni­ties
to sup­port peo­ple of all ages
to nav­i­gate life’s chal­lenges
through per­son­al­ized pre­ven­tion,
inter­ven­tion, treat­ment, and recovery.

Vision

Togeth­er We Thrive.

Our Work

Ken­neth Young Cen­ter is a 501(c)(3) not-for-prof­it fos­ter­ing health­i­er com­mu­ni­ties through: 

• Coun­sel­ing for adults, chil­dren, families
• Assess­ment, sta­bi­liza­tion, link­age for adults/​children in psy­chi­atric crisis
• Treat­ment, sup­port, and recov­ery ser­vices for those with seri­ous men­tal illness
• Ser­vice coor­di­na­tion and in-home ser­vices for old­er adults
• Sub­stance use pre­ven­tion and recovery
• Alco­hol, drug, and preg­nan­cy pre­ven­tion pro­grams for youth
• LGBTQ+ Cen­ter for youth and young adults
• Vol­un­teer opportunities

We are accred­it­ed by the Joint Com­mis­sion, a nation­al­ly respect­ed body with strin­gent stan­dards of excel­lence in healthcare.

Board of Directors

• Elizabeth Demaret, President, Carrier Services, Sedgwick
• Eileen Gillespie, Principal, Huron Consulting
• Jack Mauro, Sr. Director, Accounts Receivable, Credit and Accounts Payable, Packaging Corporation of America
• Mudita Rastogi, PhD, LMFT, Community Leader
• Scott Saxe, President, Saxe Enterprises, LLC
• Elizabeth J Stigler, PhD, Director of Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging, American College of Chest Physicians

KYC is proud to be accept­ing appli­ca­tions for our Board of Direc­tors. To learn more, please click here.

Exec­u­tive Lead­er­ship Team

• Maurice D. Ware, Chief Executive Officer
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Maurice D. Ware

Chief Executive Officer

Maurice brings over two decades of expe­ri­ence in non­prof­it and behav­ioral health lead­er­ship across Ohio, North Car­oli­na, and Michi­gan. His career is defined by trans­for­ma­tion­al lead­er­ship, oper­a­tional excel­lence, and deep com­mit­ment to access and equi­ty in behav­ioral healthcare.

Most recent­ly, Maurice served as the Chief Exec­u­tive Offi­cer of Oesterlen Ser­vices for Youth in Ohio, where he led a strate­gic turn­around that sta­bi­lized ser­vices, tran­si­tioned core pro­gram­ming, and pre­served the orga­ni­za­tion’s lega­cy through the cre­ation of a new grant­mak­ing foun­da­tion. He pre­vi­ous­ly served as Vice Pres­i­dent of Res­i­den­tial Ser­vices at The Buck­eye Ranch, lead­ing sys­tem-wide improve­ments that increased client sat­is­fac­tion, reduced staff turnover, and improved access to care. He holds a Master’s Degree in Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy from West­ern Michi­gan Uni­ver­si­ty and a Bachelor’s Degree in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion from North­wood University.

• Steven Gaydos, Chief Financial Officer
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Steven Gaydos

Chief Financial Officer

Steve joined the KYC team in January 2024, taking on the role of Chief Financial Officer. Steve spent the first part of his professional career as a healthcare consultant. While serving as a Board member of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Joliet, Steve discovered a passion for mission-driven financial work. This led him to become the Director of Finance and Administration at Catholic Charities. Later, Steve brought his expertise to All Chicago Making Homelessness History as Chief Financial and Operations Officer. At both organizations, he played a key role in substantial financial growth and operational improvements, earning recognition as a “CFO of the Year” by the Daily Herald in 2015. Inspired by KYC's mission, Steve feels honored to be chosen as its first CFO.

Steve holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and a Master’s Degree in Taxation from DePaul University. He is a licensed CPA and received the Elijah Watt Sells Award and the Illinois Bronze Medal for his performance on the CPA exam. Outside of KYC, Steve enjoys spending time with his wife and four children. He is actively involved in his church, contributing his musical talents to the church choir by singing and playing soprano saxophone.

• Elaine Vinson, Director of Talent and Culture
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Elaine Vinson

Director of Talent and Culture

Elaine joined the Kenneth Young Center Executive Leadership Team in March, 2024, bringing 30 years of human resources experience to support KYC’s growing team. Specializing in the healthcare industry and for nonprofit organizations, Elaine’s broad experience includes talent acquisition and recruitment, employee relations and culture building, performance and change management, and more. Most recently, she served as the Director of Human Resources for Community First Medical Center in Chicago, building strong and diverse teams that effectively and compassionately serve others.

Elaine earned both her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science as well as her Master of Public Administration from Iowa State University. While not at KYC, she enjoys spending time with family and friends.

• Amanda Gallegos, Vice President of Programs
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Amanda Gallegos

Vice President of Programs

Amanda joined Kenneth Young Center as Vice President of Programs in July 2025, having previously served in clinical and leadership roles in both government and non-profit settings. A Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with a strong social justice background, Amanda began her training in community mental health. She has dedicated her career to supporting the most traditionally underserved members of the community and is passionate about ensuring all people have access to quality mental health care.

Amanda launched a Community Resource Center in 2020 that provided counseling and case management services to individuals leaving the Cook County Jail, their families, and vulnerable individuals facing evictions in Cook County. The program served over 3,000 participants annually. Amanda also has experience leading large-scale non-profit organizations through rigorous audits, adhering to rules and regulations that ensure clients receive excellent service and quality of care. Most recently, Amanda served as Director of Behavioral Health Clinical Training at Metropolitan Family Services. There, she led the charge to implement one of the State of Illinois’s first-ever Violence Prevention Community Support Teams, which allows anti-gun violence providers to bill Medicaid for their services.

Amanda is a graduate of the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. When she is not working, she loves to paint watercolor portraits, cook, attend live concerts, and paddleboard with her partner and two children.

• Yashica Weeks, Director of Development & Communications
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Yashica Weeks

Director of Development & Communications

Yashica Weeks is a seasoned nonprofit leader with over 17 years of experience in philanthropic development and strategic fundraising. Her career spans a diverse range of sectors including performing arts, higher education, healthcare, community foundations, and social services. From her early work as a legislative aide in state government to her fund development positions guiding individuals, families, and closely held business owners in articulating and fulfilling their charitable goals, Yashica brings a unique talent for uncovering the “why” behind giving—building relationships rooted in shared purpose and mutual value.

Deeply committed to both her profession and her community, Yashica actively contributes to causes that align with her passion for people, philanthropy, and purpose. She has served as a course facilitator and mentor with the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Chicago Chapter, and was a board member of the West Suburban Philanthropic Network (WSPN) for three years. Most recently, she volunteered as a mentor-practitioner with KidsMatter’s Teen Philanthropy Initiative, helping high school juniors and seniors develop leadership skills, nonprofit management and community giving.

Yashica holds a bachelor’s degree in public affairs and entrepreneurship from Columbia College of South Carolina and a master’s degree in higher education administration, with a concentration in institutional advancement, from Bay Path University. She earned her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation in 2017 and her Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®) certification in 2023.

Outside of her professional work, Yashica continues to connect people with purpose through active service in her local church and by spending quality time with friends and family.

Annu­al Reports

Our annu­al report out­lines the high­lights of our fis­cal year: July 1 to June 30.

2023 Annu­al Report

Press Releas­es

Ken­neth Young Cen­ter issues press releas­es to local media out­lets to help announce events and oth­er orga­ni­za­tion­al information.

1 12 26 Announce­ment Part­ner with Endeav­or Health Com­mu­ni­ty Invest­ment Fund

If you are a mem­ber of the media and would like to be added to the media dis­tri­b­u­tion list, please con­tact, Yashica Weeks, Direc­tor of Devel­op­ment and Com­mu­ni­ca­tions at yashicaw@​kennethyoung.​org.

Who Was Ken­neth Young?

Ken­neth Wayne Young played many roles in his life: hus­band, father, pas­tor, mil­i­tary man, schol­ar, advi­sor, friend. He was many things to many peo­ple. He loved to preach and give speech­es, and when he spoke, every­one lis­tened. He had a way of mak­ing each lis­ten­er feel as if he was speak­ing just to them. He had a spir­it that cap­ti­vat­ed oth­ers and inspired great­ness. He knew when to lead and when to let oth­ers shine as lead­ers. Over thir­ty years after his death, those who knew him talk about him with warmth, rev­er­ence, and always a smile.

But one of Ken’s great­est titles had to be ​“com­mu­ni­ty activist”. Dur­ing deseg­re­ga­tion, he fought to inte­grate his com­mu­ni­ty in Cicero, Illi­nois. He worked tire­less­ly for the Fam­i­ly Ser­vice Cen­ter there to give equal rights to peo­ple of all col­ors, believ­ing to his core that every human being had the right to be cared for and respected. 

When his fam­i­ly moved to Hoff­man Estates, he worked as Pas­tor of Our Sav­iour’s Unit­ed Methodist Church and quick­ly got involved with the Elk Grove-Schaum­burg Town­ship Men­tal Health Cen­ter, which would lat­er be renamed in his mem­o­ry as Ken­neth Young Cen­ter. An ide­al­ist and rev­o­lu­tion­ary at heart, he vol­un­teered for the cen­ter as a mem­ber of the board, becom­ing a trust­ed advi­sor to the CEO and lead­er­ship team. At that time, the cen­ter focused exclu­sive­ly on men­tal health ser­vices, advo­cat­ing for the most vul­ner­a­ble in the com­mu­ni­ty to have access to qual­i­ty and com­pas­sion­ate men­tal health care. Despite years of his own health prob­lems, Ken’s tena­cious spir­it nev­er fal­tered. He tried to nev­er miss a Sun­day at the pul­pit and helped at the cen­ter when­ev­er pos­si­ble. At 60 years old, Ken passed away from can­cer in Octo­ber, 1986. Just months lat­er, the cen­ter where he spent so much of his time got a new name: Ken­neth Young Center. 

The rest, KYC friends, is history.