NEWPORT NEWS, VA — The nonprofit organization formerly known as Orphan Helpers announced today a name change to Counteract International. The new name and brand reflect the faith-based nonprofit’s broader mission to address urgent needs of incarcerated and released youth in incredibly challenging conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

“At Counteract International, we believe every youth has a future worth fighting for,” said Greg Harris, Executive Director of Counteract International. “This new name reflects the gritty yet empowering mission to counteract negative influences faced by incarcerated youth in Central America. It encompasses our work to meet youth in their most desperate moments, to go behind bars in tough juvenile correctional centers, and to stand by their side as they fight for their futures.”

Counteract International combats adversities faced by incarcerated and released youth while locked up and when they reintegrate back to society. These challenges include violence, gangs, poverty, unemployment, incarceration, family breakdown, limited education, and migration pressures. Counteract equips youth to build positive identities and hope-filled futures through consistent mentorship, life skills training, entrepreneurship, and biblical guidance.

“Since my first trip to El Salvador in 2000, we have been working to offer hope and transformative opportunities to those who desperately need it. We started 24 years ago in a single government-operated orphanage in El Salvador,” said Greg Garrett, the organization’s founder. “Today, we have grown from serving in government-run orphanages to serving in juvenile correctional centers. Through this work, we are seeing incarcerated and recently released youth making amazing life transformations and giving back to their local communities.”

Counteract International is the only faith-driven organization taking a holistic approach to equipping incarcerated and released youth for life turnarounds across the Northern Triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras).

Over the past couple of years, Counteract International has:

• Expanded from El Salvador and Honduras into Guatemala, covering the Northern Triangle.
• Launched a scholarship program, giving educational opportunities to released youth.
• Empowered formerly incarcerated youth to serve their communities through service projects.
• Implemented grant projects through U.S. Department of State and USAID opportunities.

For more information about Counteract International, please visit www.counteract.org and follow @CounteractOrg on social media.

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CONTACT: Greg Harris, 757-722-6940