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I am Sherrilyn Cross-Cavage and we are here today in Ketchikan, Alaska. What happened this evening was phenomenal. I had no idea that what I was coming to, a friend had invited me and I really didn’t know what I was coming to or what it was really about. I just knew it was the Wellness Coalition.

From what I saw, they were very, very pumped about it. And it was just, it’s just a breath of fresh air to have that, the infusion of education for one, and that someone cares that these people, Jake, Crystal and Tomas came here. It didn’t have to. It didn’t have to do that. You have so many other things that you could be doing with your lives, but you’re taking time out to come here to share this message and to just bring hope and encouragement. I keep saying the word encouragement, but it was. It’s just like yeah, we don’t have to swim around in this muck and do nothing about it.

There’s something that we can do, should do, and will do. It gave us the tools, the equipment to start the progress of moving forward in the change that needs to happen. Communication and conversation. I remember the list of a caring adult, which I do feel like I’m a caring adult, and there a lot of caring adults here, but community, communication skills, the five C’s, which I counted six, but we won’t nitpick over that. Yeah, the communication and just conversation, having a lot more conversation and my boys and I do, but we also have a lot of their friends that come into the house and I feel like I can have the liberty to have conversations with them too and be bold in just talking about.

Two years and one mouth and asking questions and getting the ball rolling and listening and providing a safe space. And I counted four times that Tomas said, the space. You know, I was hearing him say, hold the space and yeah, I can do that. I can absolutely do that. That’s an easy and actually fun thing to do. Yeah. And also the sober parties. I mean, I always have sober parties anyway, but intentionally. providing that in the community. I can see, I feel energized about, hey, let’s start doing this intentionally and on a broader scale than just in our home. I can’t honestly answer that because I haven’t seen the others, but I can say what I saw tonight, it was very fresh and you are young people to be doing this and very, very relatable and you guys are just so open. to the community and to people. You’re truly, I don’t feel like that this is a job that you’re doing. I feel like your heart and soul is in what you’re doing and you’re investing so much of who you are and the gifts that you’ve been given and you’re taking those things and making a difference. were sharing with me about how you’ve traveled and done all these things that it’s so much deeper than just. It feels like it’s really so much that you’re giving of yourselves that is, yeah, that is immediately evident when I walk into the auditorium. I didn’t have to be in there not even a minute. It was like, this feels very alive. So you’re planting those seeds, and then the community will water them, and it’ll bring forth a good fruit, definitely.

I would say if I was asked if Vive 18 should come back to the community about coming back, would say absolutely get them back here again because it’s something that we need. mean there’s a tremendous need and a desire. You can see that desire by the people who showed up and are here to say we’re going to grab hold of that. being very, very enthused and I saw him interacting with you and Jake, with Emily and Jake. And just, they were just so lit up. They were just lit up from the inside and when Jake walked through the commons area, my son goes, Jake, my man, you know, and he was just, and someone else said like, they’re just trolling him. It’s like, no they’re not. They’re not trolling. This is genuine. This is sincere because I know my boys and I know how they behave. They were truly enthusiastic and wanting to get engaged and involved in what’s going on and wanting to be a part of it. that was… And they’re at an age. They’re vulnerable to what’s going on with their peers and they’re in that their frontal lobe is developing, you know, and to have that big, big nudge in the right direction to make making those good choices where they’re in situations where they have decisions to make. And it’s it’s certainly every week, but it’s kind of every day, too. And this was this was a huge like here, here’s a signpost. Go this way. And they responded to it beautifully. And I’m here to support those continued good decisions. I just want to say thank you so much for coming here and I do hope that you’ll return. I certainly do hope you’ll return, come back again. We’d love to come back. Good, good. Well thank you so much.