University Park volunteer Ginny Bledsoe Martin has been involved with teen outreach programs in North Texas since moving here in 2011, and in 2020 got connected with Youth180 through its president Keri Stitt.
The agency helps youth and their families navigate social and environmental challenges through substance misuse prevention, intervention, and clinical programs.
Why do you support Youth180 today?
I lost my cousin to an accidental overdose in 2015, and it completely gutted my family. We were all at such a loss and didn’t understand how it could happen to us. When I started opening up about my loss, I was shocked how many people were also affected by the tragedy of substance misuse.
What would you say to someone else considering a donation to the nonprofit this year?
Substance use, along with behavioral and mental health issues, are not choices, but rather responses to a larger underlying concern: trauma. Trauma affects individuals from all walks of life and can have lasting generational impact, if not processed and healed. Youth180 is here to help youth and families achieve that healing.
