Project Ricochet

🎉 Exciting News from the Kentucky Perinatal Association (KPA) 2026 Annual Conference! 🎉

The 2026 Kentucky Perinatal Association Conference brought together healthcare professionals, public health leaders, researchers, community advocates, doulas, community health workers, and maternal-child health champions from across the Commonwealth to strengthen Kentucky's commitment to healthier outcomes for mothers, infants, and families.

⭐ Historic Milestone ⭐

I am deeply honored to share that I was elected to serve on the Kentucky Perinatal Association Board. This appointment represents an important step forward for community-centered maternal and infant health leadership in Kentucky. As one of the first non-clinical professionals elected to the Board it reflects a growing recognition that improving maternal and infant health outcomes requires more than clinical care alone.

Health outcomes are shaped by social determinants of health, health outcomes, community engagement, workforce development, culturally responsive outreach, and trusted community partnerships. Along with Project Ricochet's TRIBE Women's Wellness Initiative, I look forward to bringing the perspectives of community health workers, community-based organizations, public health practitioners, and the families we serve into statewide conversations and decision-making.

Through my work with Project Ricochet, maternal health initiatives, the Barbershop and Beauty Salon Initiative, CHW workforce development programs, and health equity collaborations, I remain committed to building bridges between healthcare systems and communities throughout Kentucky.

Thank you to the Kentucky Perinatal Association membership for your confidence and support. I am excited to work alongside an incredible group of leaders dedicated to advancing maternal and infant health across the Commonwealth.

We are building healthier families, stronger communities, and more equitable health outcomes for all Kentuckians.

Find out more information about TRIBE here: https://lnkd.in/e6fRy68b

CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER ALERTS -

The PR Health: Farm Rx Path to Cardiovascular Wellness and Health for All

PR Health: Farm Rx: Community Garden
Lexington Housing Authority – Sixth Street Office
635 E. Sixth St, Lexington, KY 40508

Educational Sessions: REGISTER HERE: https://forms.gle/SeQpxCAjTjtriWRJ6

Session 2 – June 2026 (Onsite)
Community-Engaged Nutrition Education for Underserved Populations

Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Lexington Housing Authority – Sixth Street Office, 635 E Sixth St, Lexington, KY 40508

This onsite workshop focuses on co-created recipes, meal preparation demonstrations, and culturally aligned nutrition strategies that support cardiovascular wellness.

From More Information:

Sixth Street Community Lead: Tania Whitfield

Project Ricochet
Dr. Quinton Marks, Ph.D., CCHW
VP of Operations | PR Health: Farm Rx

Tania Whitfield

SNAPSHOT: FREE III Monthly Impact Report | May 2026

Through our Healing Beyond the Chair Initiative, Project Ricochet continues bringing overdose prevention, recovery support, and community healing into trusted spaces throughout Fayette County.

📍 Well Groomed Barbershop Flagship Site
470 E New Circle Rd #4
Lexington, KY 40505

May Highlights:

✅ 24 Outreach Encounters
✅ 9 Naloxone Education Conversations
✅ 7 Fentanyl Test Strip Education Sessions
✅ 5 Warm Referrals to Services
✅ 18 Overdose Prevention Materials Distributed
✅ 12 Wellness Check-Ins
✅ 10 Resource & Support Information Shares
✅ 12 Art Installation Participants

Featured Community Art Installations (Colin Cook, Urban Art Collective):

🎨 Recovery Begins With Us
🎨 Stories of Survival
🎨 Remember. Repair. Recover.

Together, we are reducing stigma, strengthening recovery pathways, and building healthier communities through trusted relationships, education, and hope.

Do you need to talk? Speak with someone today.
988 Su***de and Crisis Lifeline (24/7)

Stop The V**e! Please take a moment to complete the survey. Your responses matter. You matter.

Survey Found Here - https://forms.gle/y5hTargaPuC6NDB76

🎉 COMMUNITY, COME OUT AND SUPPORT! 🎉

Project Ricochet is proud to support the Grand Opening Block Party for Newtown Cuts Barbershop!

Join us for an afternoon of:

✂️ Haircuts
🎶 Music
🍔 Food
🎮 Games
🩺 Health Screenings
🤝 Community Connection

📍 528 Booker Street, Suite 2
📅 Sunday, May 31, 2026
⏰ 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM

This is more than a barbershop opening — it’s a celebration of neighborhood pride, unity, culture, and positive community energy. Let’s show love and support for a space dedicated to bringing people together.

Bring the family, invite a friend, and come celebrate with us!

Congratulations!!! James R. Garrett, MSW
Mentor | Advocate | Barber | Therapist

New Series: The Ricochet Effect: Breaking the Cycle – To***co, Truth, and Black Health

The latest installment of The Ricochet Effect: Breaking the Cycle: The Architecture of Targeting — How To***co Industries Engineered Harm in Black Communities with Dr. Valerie Yerger (Continuum 1), confronts one of the most enduring yet underexamined public health crises impacting Black communities:

Featuring Dr. Valerie Yerger of the African American To***co Control Leadership Council, this critical conversation moves beyond traditional prevention narratives to examine the structural realities of to***co industry targeting, menthol addiction, policy delay, and systemic health inequities.

This continuum challenges listeners to reconsider to***co prevention not simply as an issue of individual behavior, but as a function of:

~ Historically and culturally-motivated targeted outreach and marketing practices.
~ Opportunities for stronger institutional alignment.
~ Public health responses that could benefit from stronger alignment.
~ Intergenerational health and wellness challenges.

Grounded in community-based participatory research (CBPR), public health equity frameworks, and policy translation, the discussion explores how trusted institutions, culturally responsive interventions, and coordinated systems change are essential to disrupting embedded patterns of harm within Black and All communities.

This is not merely a discussion about to***co. It is a discussion about health parity, economic consequence, community resilience, and the architecture of prevention itself.

The Ricochet Effect: Breaking the Cycle: The Architecture of Targeting — How To***co Industries Engineered Harm in Black Communities with Dr. Valerie Yerger (Continuum 1) Episode Here - https://www.wuky.org/podcast/the-ricochet-effect/2026-05-11/continuum-1-the-architecture-of-targeting-how-to***co-industries-engineered-harm-in-black-communities

The Ricochet Effect: Breaking the Cycle - To***co, Truth, and Black Health
Series Here - https://www.wuky.org/tags/the-ricochet-effect-breaking-the-cycle

***coPrevention

Honoring Partnership & Excellence With Lextropolis Magazine

We are incredibly grateful for the extraordinary coverage of the 2026 Central Kentucky Black Family Conference. Lextropolis beautifully captured the brilliance, creativity, leadership, and lived experiences of our youth while preserving the spirit of community, culture, art, and empowerment that defined this year’s conference.

Their thoughtful coverage of the CKBFC2026 Action Plan further highlighted the importance of sustainability, collaboration, accountability, and long-term transformational work within our community.

This partnership means far more than media coverage. It reflects shared vision, purpose, and a deep love for our community. Thank you for documenting not just an event, but the moment.

~ Dr. El-Amin

Explore The Latest Edition Here: https://madmagz.app/viewer/69e15c5fdb0fef00146b7f1b -8

Celebrate the final installment of the 2025-2026 Lyrically Inclined series with us on Thursday, May 14, 2026, from 6–8 PM at On The Rox as the Project Ricochet Urban Art Collective closes out an incredible season of poetry, culture, healing, and community connection.

Hosted by acclaimed spoken word artist Taca Hollis, Lyrically Inclined has created space for authentic storytelling, artistic expression, intergenerational dialogue, and culturally grounded wellness conversations throughout Lexington. From Juneteenth reflections to Roots & Heritage celebrations and evenings centered on love, poetry, and soul awakening, this series has demonstrated the transformative power of spoken word and community engagement.

We extend our deepest gratitude to every artist, performer, supporter, and attendee who helped make this series impactful and memorable.

Bet On You! Reclaim Your Power: Special thanks to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Cabinet for Health and Family Services, on behalf of the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, Division of Administration and Financial Management, for supporting Project Ricochet’s public awareness campaign addressing problem gambling and its intersections with behavioral health, mental health, and substance use prevention.

All initiatives remain aligned with Project Ricochet’s mission to empower underserved populations through health education, cultural preservation, and youth-led mobilization.

Join us for an evening of poetry, reflection, culture, and collective healing.