Featured Advocate: Yvonne from Youth Drug Awareness and Prevention 4/28

Yvonne: I became an advocate for mental health after the drug overdose death of my 19 year old daughter Alyssa.

She had demons to fight and chose to fight them with drugs. I had taken her to several therapists and she wouldn’t talk. She went down the wrong road.
I now talk to teens in groups in our county. I also hold a rally in our county every September to bring awareness to our community about drugs.
I am a board member of a non-profit that helps put teens into rehab.
My daughter’s dad ( my ex-husband) is bi-polar and treatment resistant. This caused a lot of problems in our marriage and with my daughter.
Mental health treatment is so very important. It can lead to managing a fairly normal (whatever that is ) life.

Youth Drug Awareness and Prevention

This page has  been created in honor of Alyssa K Whelan who passed away at the age of 19 due to a heroin overdose. It’s our mission to promote drug awareness and prevention among our kids.This page was started out of frustration of trying to get my local government to listen to my anti-drug message. I spoke at many County Government meetings trying to promote better drug education and awareness for our youth. I went to the State Capitol of Annapolis, Maryland and spoke to The Maryland General Assembly. Same old story. “We understand what you are trying to do, but our hands are tied.”
I decided to take the message “to the streets” so to speak. There is a quote by Mother Teresa that says, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, feed just one.”
So I am speaking to youth groups and trying to educate through this page.As the mother of a child that has passed on, I pour my heart out to you.
Thanks for being here.