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Families & Youth Inc. rebrands to FYI+ to denote broad range of services

Las Cruces Sun-News - 12/12/2021

LAS CRUCES - Families and Youth, Inc. has rebranded its image with a new name: Families and Youth Innovations Plus.

The team at FYI+ hopes the new name will catch the attention of the public, letting them know FYI+ is more than just services for youth or families, but it has resources for every community member who is seeking assistance.

The idea behind the rebrand is to "always embody to the plus," as FYI+ Chief Executive Officer Brian Kavanaugh said during a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday afternoon.

"Our identity has been reimagined, recharged, and rebranded," Kavanaugh said. "We want to welcome each and all of you to rediscover who we are and how we can serve and support the community as Families and Youth Innovations Plus."

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FYI+ has offered a variety of services to children, families and community members for decades. First being known as Children in Need of Services (CHINS) before rebranding in 1987.

Its services include well-known opportunities such as its summer food program and therapy programs. The company also provides housing and shelter opportunities, mental health resources and other healthcare services.

Kavanuagh said there's no specific or individual changes that are being made to the company's services. He explained that the change is more of an expanded outlook on what the company is capable of.

"We're not necessarily changing our trajectory, in terms of what we do, we're just broadening in it," Kavanaugh said. "We've grown tremendously, both in programs and staff over the past couple of years, in our training and our capacity and our expertise, so that's really adding to a new identity."

During Kavanaugh's speech, he mentioned the investigation that took place from 2013 to 2016 into FYI's Medicaid conduct and possible double billing. The court exonerated FYI after three years, but it left the company hurting.

Kavanaugh said this period allowed FYI to reevaluate its mission and eventually led to this rebranding.

"It really just felt like it was time for us to evolve and to evolve the brand and the image to be inclusive," FYI+ Chief Operating Officer Jolene Martinez said. "We want people to know about us is that we're adaptable that we can innovate with you. So it's really more of an invitation to get people to really explore our identity."

Martinez said that often people, when they hear "families and youth," they think the group's services are limited to those with children. She hopes the "plus" will invite community members to explore the company's services more.

Martinez said some of the programs she wants to community to be aware of include the LGBTQ+ outreach resources and an emergency shelter providing a temporary home to people ages 12 to 17.

All people have individual needs. Martinez and FYI+ want to highlight that the company is looking for new ways to assist community members that's not one size fits all.

"We're really challenging ourselves to be innovative, and to do it in our own unique way," Martinez said. "I think that that's really what has inspired us to add the 'plus' to make sure that people know that we go beyond just providing that service. It's going to be different."

FYI+ has a new website. For information on the services the company provides, visit fyiplusnm.org/.

Miranda Cyr, a Report for America corps member, can be reached at mcyr@lcsun-news.com or @mirandabcyr on Twitter. Show your support for the Report for America program at https://bit.ly/LCSNRFA.

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