Click image below to see new :60 TV PSA
Fifteen-year-old Blessyn looks at her life these days and smiles. She has come long way. A couple of years ago, her mother died. Alone with her father who battles chronic health issues, she struggled to manage her emotions.
“After I lost my mom, I was depressed and resentful. I couldn’t find my way,” Blessyn says in a new public service announcement (PSA). “But I’m not lost,” she adds.
The new PSA is part of Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc.’s national “But I’m Not” public awareness campaign, which includes video, radio and print ads appearing in donated media across the U.S. YAP is a national nonprofit in 35 states and Washington, D.C. that partners with youth justice, child welfare, behavioral health, education, public safety and other systems to deliver services in homes, schools, and other community sites as an alternative to residential care, youth incarceration, and neighborhood violence.
The PSA campaign, produced in partnership with YAP and The CauseWay Agency, features current and former participants in the national nonprofit’s Youth Justice, Child Welfare, Intellectual Disabilities/Autism, and now with Blessyn’s participation, Behavioral Health programs. YAP hires neighborhood-based staff to provide culturally responsive individual and family services that focus on program participants’ strengths and empower them with tools to thrive. Through one of the nonprofit’s school-based programs, Blessyn began working with YAP Behavioral Health Services professional Tiffany Love, who lives in her community and works at her high school, which is also Love’s alma mater.
“I empower Blessyn with skills and tools to see her strengths and set positive goals,” Love says in the PSAs.
Blessyn ends the PSA with a smile and hope.
“And now I’m finding joy and excited about my future.”
In addition to the national PSA campaign, Love is featured in a digital radio and YouTube ad campaign aimed at recruiting YAP Behavioral Health Services and other staff.
The PSA ends with the narrator saying, “After completing our program, nearly 90 percent of participants remain in their community. YAP works.”
Learn how more about YAP, apply to join the team, or donate to support the nonprofit at www.YAPInc.org. You can also support YAP by following the nonprofit on Twitter @YAPInc.
