community and personal partnership

I run a program that supports at-risk youth in our community. I connect with RASS to refer youth to me and speak with them on how they can assist with the youth who are currently in my program. I am also connected with RASS on a personal level, as somebody in my life struggles with substance use, so we connect with the outreach workers and the counselling services there as well. I first connected with RASS from being invited to the Youth Network Meetings that are hosted a couple of times throughout the year. Since I connected with RASS both on a professional and personal level, something that I’ve really learned is that I didn’t really know much about concurrent issues a lot of youth and young adults are facing, so I really learned a lot about tolerance. I learned that no two individuals struggle the same, can overcome their issues the same, or learn the same. I feel like I really developed a deeper understanding of what substance use looks like, what addiction looks like, and how I can be involved, I didn’t really have a lot of information on that. So I just feel like I have a much deeper understanding and a much deeper sense of grace towards people that are struggling.