391 Millennium - Eighteenth Edition SOCIAL SERVICES AND NONPROFIT and life-threatening illnesses. While managing an equine program at a Girl Scout camp in Oregon, she met a young girl with severe obsessivecompulsive disorder and witnessed how working with horses helped the girl develop healthier coping skills. Influenced by this experience, Ms. Mabou sought a way to combine recreation with mental health assistance, which led her to Youth Homes Inc. in 1999. She has since worked with the organization for over 22 years. As the longest-operating group home and residential service home in Northern California, Youth Homes provides residential services and community-based support for families and children. Ms. Mabou worked as a residential counselor in group homes, supporting foster children as they acclimated to life within the home. She later transitioned into communitybased work as a therapeutic behavioral specialist and helped the agency expand its services. She then became a house supervisor and created the enrichment program, which helps children develop healthy coping mechanisms and life skills through activities such as art and gardening. Utilizing an associate degree in photography from the Southeast Center for Photographic Studies, Ms. Mabou taught photography techniques to children so they could document garden growth, fostering their creativity and love for nature. This enrichment program sets Youth Homes apart from other behavioral agencies, and she believes that through play, the children can grow, develop and heal from trauma. In the coming years, Ms. Mabou looks forward to retiring. However, she remains passionate about aiding foster children, and she hopes to use her experience to publish and speak about foster care. After retiring, she plans to work as a consultant, writer and speaker to support improvements in the foster care system. Ms. Mabou began her career as a horse trainer. She then worked for youth camps, such as Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camps — now known as SeriousFun Children’s Network Camps — primarily at Camp Boggy Creek, which serves children with chronic RONNIE R. MABOU DIRECTOR OF STANDARDS AND ENRICHMENT Youth Homes Inc. Martinez, CA
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