“I was troubled, in a dark place, struggling with severe negative mental health symptoms, and having a hard time navigating my life,” says 24-year-old Grace. “I felt hopeless, lost, lonely and overwhelmed.”

Grace had years of unaddressed childhood trauma, which were showing up as anger, guilt, shame, symptoms of PTSD, and attachment issues.

Thanks to your generosity, when Grace reached out for help, she was able to get the mental health care and support she needed. From the beginning, she was ready to talk about and process very hard topics and experiences so that she could heal and move past her trauma.

Through our Transitional Age Youth program, Grace received mental health care designed specifically to help individuals navigate the challenging years between youth and adulthood. With therapy, she learned about her own trauma responses (fight, flight, freeze) and worked on improving her self-love, positive self-esteem and overall well-being.

“I learned to take control of my own life and work through the things that happened to me, changing the narrative from victim to survivor. I learned self-confidence, independent living skills and how to manage and live with my mental health symptoms,” says Grace.

Grace also worked on improving her communication and self-advocacy skills, and learned and mastered valuable leadership skills. She even became President of the Active Minds Club and a Certified Mental Health Aid at her college.

As she progressed through treatment, Grace continued to face challenges with her family, her living situation, loss of loved ones, increases in her mental health symptoms, and feeling unsupported by her family and friends. During these times, she leaned on her treatment team for additional support and self-advocated for medication to help with her symptoms.

Today, Grace radiates hope and optimism for her future and all the possibilities and opportunities ahead of her. “I live my entire life differently now,” she says. “I have more hope, more optimism, a more positive perspective, goals for my future, and the confidence in myself to succeed. My treatment team helped light the way, lifted me up and guided me to a path leading to a future I never knew existed or I could have!”

She adds, “Community Solutions is a vital part of and a useful tool for this community, and I hope you keep the programs alive to serve this community and continue providing meaningful changes in the lives of those who live here, especially community members who are low-income, minorities and without citizenship documentation.”

Thank you for making such a difference for Grace and for so many other local youth and young adults who are struggling with their mental health. What a gift!