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 & Advocacy
Why are so many at-risk kids caught in an identity crisis and performing toughness they don't actually feel
How adverse childhood trauma shapes behavior — and why patience is the most underrated tool in youth work
What it means to be authentic with young people who can read you in seconds
The importance of modeling behavior, not just preaching it
How to advocate for youth mental health even if you're not on the frontline
Homelessness in the Quad Cities
How policy changes around shelter placement have pushed the unhoused out of safe spaces
Why people become homeless faster than most of us realize — and why warm weather doesn't solve the problem
The viral TikTok moment where Royce connected with a young man who had just become homeless and didn't even know a local shelter was open
Why abandoned buildings in the Quad Cities are at the center of this conversation
Royce's Mission & How You Can Help
How Royce went from passing out coats from his storage unit to becoming a community voice
The GoFundMe campaign: Creating Safe Spaces for the Unhoused and At-Risk Youth
A $100,000 goal to fund emergency overflow shelters and additional youth spaces in the Quad Cities
About 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.
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