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The Healthy Project PodcastThe Healthy Project Podcast explores the powerful intersection of health, society, and equity through real conversations with changemakers on the front lines of social impact. Author: The Healthy Project
The Healthy Project Podcast explores the powerful intersection of health, society, and equity through real conversations with changemakers on the front lines of social impact. Each episode features thought leaders, researchers, and advocates who unpack how social structures from policy to culture shape the health of communities. Topics we explore include: Health equity and structural determinants Community-driven research and innovation Lived experiences of marginalized populations Public policy, systemic bias, and health outcomes Whether you're a public health professional, social science researcher, policymaker, or community advocate, this podcast brings you grounded insights, bold ideas, and practical tools to drive change where it matters most. Language: en Genres: Health & Fitness, Medicine, Mental Health Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Youth, Homelessness, Mental Health & Showing Up: A Conversation with Community Advocate Royce Wright
Episode 191
Monday, 16 March, 2026
Quad Cities advocate Royce Wright gets real about youth mental health, the homelessness crisis, and what it means to show up consistently for kids and communities that the system keeps overlooking.SHOW NOTES:Some of the most important public health work doesn't happen in clinics or conference rooms. It happens on street corners, in shelters, and in honest conversations with kids who just need somebody to show up.This week on The Healthy Project Podcast, Corey Dion Lewis sits down with his cousin Royce Wright — a community advocate based in the Quad Cities who has built a reputation for doing exactly that. Royce works with at-risk youth navigating mental health challenges, behavioral issues, and identity crises, while simultaneously raising his voice about the growing homelessness crisis in his community. His approach is rooted in lived experience, patience, and an unshakeable belief that trust is the foundation of everything.In this conversation, Royce shares what it's really like to work with kids who are struggling, why the family unit matters just as much as the child, and how a chance encounter while filming a TikTok video led to a viral moment — and a GoFundMe — aimed at opening emergency overflow shelters and youth spaces across the Quad Cities.What We Cover:Youth Mental Health & AdvocacyWhy are so many at-risk kids caught in an identity crisis and performing toughness they don't actually feelHow adverse childhood trauma shapes behavior — and why patience is the most underrated tool in youth workWhat it means to be authentic with young people who can read you in secondsThe importance of modeling behavior, not just preaching itHow to advocate for youth mental health even if you're not on the frontlineHomelessness in the Quad CitiesHow policy changes around shelter placement have pushed the unhoused out of safe spacesWhy people become homeless faster than most of us realize — and why warm weather doesn't solve the problemThe viral TikTok moment where Royce connected with a young man who had just become homeless and didn't even know a local shelter was openWhy abandoned buildings in the Quad Cities are at the center of this conversationRoyce's Mission & How You Can HelpHow Royce went from passing out coats from his storage unit to becoming a community voiceThe GoFundMe campaign: Creating Safe Spaces for the Unhoused and At-Risk YouthA $100,000 goal to fund emergency overflow shelters and additional youth spaces in the Quad CitiesResources & Links:🔗 Royce Wright's GoFundMe — Creating Safe Spaces for the Unhoused and At-Risk Youth Follow Royce Wright:FacebookTikTok InstagramYouTubeLinkedInAbout The Healthy Project Podcast The Healthy Project Podcast is hosted by public health storyteller Corey Dion Lewis. Each week, Corey brings honest, community-first conversations about health equity, mental health, social determinants of health, and the people doing the real work in underserved communities across the country.🎙️ Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. ★ Support this podcast ★
