What helps a young person find the right path when they struggle with belonging, cultural identity, or difficult life choices?

In this episode of Aligned Voices, by Healthy Aligned Living, our host speaks with Urick Anthony, a youth intervention specialist and advocate for at-risk youth and newcomer families. Having immigrated to Canada from Tanzania as a teenager, Urick shares how his experiences shaped his commitment to helping young people build brighter futures.

Together, they explore gang prevention, early warning signs, newcomer youth challenges, parent-child relationships, and the importance of mentorship, trust, and early intervention. Urick also shares practical advice for parents, educators, and communities on supporting young people before a crisis occurs.

At the heart of this conversation is a powerful message: with the right guidance, connection, and support, every young person deserves the opportunity to choose a better future.

🌐 Learn more about Urick: https://urickanthony.com

#AlignVoices #UrickAnthony #YouthAtRisk #GangPrevention #NewcomerYouth #PositiveChoices #YouthEmpowerment

What does true happiness look like when you build it alone, far from home, on your own terms? Neerja shares the unfiltered story of how a life she never planned became a lesson in resilience, routine, and self-trust. Why solo living in Bangkok is far less glamorous, and far more powerful, than social media makes it seem.

After a marriage ended, Neerja had to rebuild everything from scratch: her emotional life, her sense of safety, her health, and her identity. What followed was not a highlight reel, but a real shift in how she thinks about joy, loneliness, boundaries, and the daily habits that keep her grounded.

Neerja is a Bangkok-based solo-living advocate and wellness voice who shares lived experience around emotional resilience, routine-based health, and building a life rooted in self-awareness rather than dependence.

Former mechanic turned gang prevention specialist Urick Anthony explains how to spot the early signs of gang recruitment, what to do when you find a weapon or gang symbol, and why the smartest intervention often starts with listening, not lecturing.

Bhawna sits down with Urick to trace the life experience that shaped his work with newcomer youth in Canada, from immigrating as a young person himself to becoming the trusted front-line voice schools call when a student is slipping. His approach is practical, direct, and deeply human: he shows why practical experience can matter more than credentials, how a single school incident can reveal a bigger pattern, and why trust is the real turning point in helping youth change course.

A mom lost her 20-year-old son Jaden to suicide — this is how she keeps moving forward. Amy Bricco on losing a child to suicide, grief, and hope for parents.

Amy Bricco is a mom of four and high school counselor married 29 years. In this raw Aligned Voices interview with host Bhawna Rath, she shares Jaden’s story — a talented hip-hop dancer with a scholarship and LA dance crew dream, whose anxiety turned to depression no one saw. No typical warning signs, masked pain, declining grades, feeling “flat,” sleeping all day — and a friend who held his secret to keep trust.

We go deep on parental guilt and survivor’s guilt, stigma around men’s emotions, Amy’s own depression after loss, therapy and EMDR, complicated grief of suicide loss, why “you don’t move on, you move forward,” letting joy and grief coexist, celebrating Jaden’s birthday, what helped vs what hurt in support, and concrete advice: act on anything you feel, follow up even when they say “I’m fine,” create one-on-one moments.

What if feeling different does not mean something is wrong with you?

In this inspiring conversation, Derek Crager shares how receiving an autism and ADHD diagnosis at 50 helped him finally understand why life had often felt harder than it should. His story is a powerful message for young people who feel misunderstood, overwhelmed, or like they do not fit in: your differences are not weaknesses, and your struggles do not define your future.

Derek opens up about shame, self-doubt, resilience, and the journey from trying to hide who he was to understanding and using his strengths. He explains why asking for help matters, why you do not have to be perfect to make an impact, and how self-awareness can change the way you learn, lead, and connect with others.

This episode encourages young people to:

Believe that being different can be a strength

Ask for support instead of facing challenges alone

Stop comparing their journey to everyone else’s

Learn how their mind works and use that knowledge with confidence

Understand that setbacks and difficult seasons do not determine their future

Stay resilient while building a life that feels authentic

Derek also shares his vision for Human First AI: technology should support people and bring out their strengths, not replace the human qualities that make us unique.

If you are a young person who has ever felt behind, out of place, or unsure of your potential, this conversation is for you. You are not broken. You are still becoming—and your story can create meaningful change.

What if the thing holding young people back is not laziness, but the pressure to act like they already have it all figured out? Serenity opens up about grief, self-doubt, social media, and the quiet power of being heard, while Bhawna Rath guides a deeply honest conversation about what youth actually need right now.

Serenity shares how a shy, quiet start gave way to a more open, independent voice—one shaped by volunteering, the gym, music, and the reality of losing her father far too young. She talks candidly about growing up in Kugluktuk, struggling with reading and school, learning to ask for help, and discovering that strength is not about pretending you are unbreakable.

In this conversation, Serenity discusses:

Why so many teens stay silent instead of asking for support

How volunteering becomes easier when someone meets youth where they are

The impact of social media algorithms, depression, and body-image pressure

What grief can look like for a teenager, and why it can take years to process

How loss inspired her purpose of helping others

Her hopes for a future in policing, fitness, and community service

Bhawna also explores the wider challenges facing youth, including mental health, limited support in some communities, and the need for real people to show up and listen. Serenity’s story is raw, honest, funny, and deeply hopeful—a reminder that people do not need to be fixed before they deserve support. They need to be heard.

#YouthMentalHealth #GriefAndHealing #IndigenousYouth #MentalHealthAwareness #Resilience

In this powerful and inspiring video, Lawrence C. Harris shares his personal story of resilience and overcoming trauma, highlighting the importance of navigating abusive behavior and setting healthy boundaries. Through his journey, he emphasizes the need for prioritizing personal safety, especially in situations of sibling abuse, where the lines of support and trust can often be blurred. By sharing his experiences and the lessons he has learned, Lawrence aims to help others find purpose and healing, demonstrating that it is possible to transform trauma into a catalyst for growth and positive change. His story serves as a testament to the human spirit's capacity for resilience and its ability to emerge stronger and more determined in the face of adversity. By watching this video, viewers can gain valuable insights into the process of healing and recovery, and learn how to establish and maintain healthy boundaries to ensure their own personal safety and well-being.

When Reshma Kearney's husband Sean died by suicide in 2022, she went from mom to solo parent of three grieving children overnight. In this deeply honest conversation on Aligned Voices, Reshma shares how she found the courage to tell her children the truth, why the words we use around suicide matter, and how mindfulness became a lifeline for her family's healing.Reshma holds a Master's in Public Health from Emory University and is a certified trauma-informed kids' yoga teacher. She now runs the Solo Mom Circle, an 8-week grief support program, and speaks openly about suicide loss, mental health language, and solo parenting through grief.