About KELY

KELY was founded in 1991 by a young woman named Samantha Martin. As a teenager, Samantha had struggled with alcoholism and found that there simply weren't enough resources dedicated to helping young people with addiction. When she read an article in the South China Morning Post about the heroin overdoses amongst expat youth, she felt moved to share her own story. In February 1991, her story was published in the SCMP under the pseudonym "Kelly". The response was overwhelming from young people who were going through the same thing and had nowhere else to turn, and from family members who were burdened with the shame of a loved one's struggle with addiction and desperate to find help.

Soon after, Samantha began organising weekly "Kelly support group" meetings - a safe space for young people to help each other. She was also invited to schools to speak to students, offering authentic sharing from her own experiences to other young people. As the need for these types of resources became clear, KELY Support Group (an acronym for Kids Everywhere Like You) was officially incorporated as a nonprofit organisation.

Over the years, KELY has grown and evolved to meet the needs for each new generation, but the heart of it is still the same - to empower young people to reach their full potential.

Read the story of how KELY started in Samantha's own words!

30 Years with KELY

KELY Milestones

SDG 3: Good Health & Wellbeing
We strive to empower all young people in Hong Kong to achieve good health, especially as it relates to mental health and wellbeing

SDG 4: Quality Education
Our programmes are carefully designed to provide quality education to supplement what is being taught at school or at home and to emphasize the importance of peer support and education

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
We work towards a future where all young people to be treated with equal respect and provided with equal opportunities; with this in mind, we have a special focus on youth from marginalized backgrounds, especially ethnic minority youth

As a local youth organisation, we take the wellbeing of our young people very seriously. This means that everyone who represents KELY in any capacity - including staff, volunteers, and board members - agree to do their part to create a safe environment for all young people. Some of the principles outlinted in our Child Protection Policy include:

• We prioritize the best interests of young people
• We have zero tolerance for any type of physical and psychological harm towards children and young people
• We prevent harm from happening in the first place by educating ourselves about our responsibilities towards child protection and the steps we can all take to protect young people
• We are diligent in intervening in any cases of maltreatment of young people and advocating for their wellbeing and safety
• We create a safe space for young people to express themselves

Read our full Child Protection Policy here.