WCHS Alumni Enrich Lives By Helping Kenyan Youth
WARSAW — A Warsaw Community High School graduate is enriching the lives of others through a ministry project she created alongside a group of Warsaw-natives. Shaé Brown, whose maiden name was Shaé Robison-Burkholder, founded the Kutoa Project in 2015 with the mission of bringing therapeutic social services to youth in Kenya who have been affected by trauma.
The Kutoa Project’s mission “is to equip Kenyan youth who have been affected by violence, abuse, homelessness, trafficking, diseases or loss by providing therapeutic social services in a safe, Christ-centered environment.”
The project is based with three main programs including: individual and group counseling, educating the community and community organizations on trauma informed care and community involvement. Community involvement allows project workers to connect local churches and positive influencers with children who are most vulnerable. This connection can be through various means such as sports, life skill activities and community events.
Since 2015 the Kutoa Project has grown to have staff in Kenya, and has partnered with multiple organizations to help support the need for mental health services, resources and crisis intervention. Brown and her husband, Jason, live in Kenya for most of the year to maintain the day to day office work needed to run the program.
Many members of the board of directors for the Kutoa Project are WCHS graduates, including Mike and Christine Coon, Cody Goshert and Colton Streeter. Other board members include current Warsaw resident Nicole Wallick and Kenyan-native Sharon Mibey.
Kutoa Project is hosting a dinner on June 8, at Light Rail Café and Roaster in Winona Lake to allow members of the public and donors to learn more about the project from both founders and the board of directors. Tickets are available on their website www.kutoaproject.org.