Hi! My name is AmyBeth Ahl-Wright. I was born and raised in Butte County and have lived in Paradise for most of my adult life. I have four kids (14, 18, 20 and 23). We have 2 dogs, 2 cats, 9 chickens and 4 ducks. I graduated from Butte College with degrees in Social and BehavioralScience and in Child Development, and from CSU Chico with a degree in Multicultural and Gender Studies with an option in Women’s Studies and a minor in Child Development. I have worked as a Social Worker, as a Behavioral Health Counselor, and as a Special Education Paraprofessional. I have also been a foster parent, a respite care provider and a host parent to exchange students from Spain, France and Germany. I enjoy reading, music (my kids create playlists for me so I can find new music), podcasts, baking and learning about herbalism.

For the past seven years I have worked with Butte County YoungLives, first as a volunteer mentor, and for the past two years as the Butte County YoungLives Coordinator. YoungLives provides nonjudgemental life-on-life mentoring and support to pregnant and parenting teen and young adult moms and dads in Butte County. This is important to me, because I was a teen parent, and YoungLives provides the support and connections with peers and mentors that I wish I would have had as a teen parent. I believe that everyone needs a neutral third party to talk to about life with, and to hold space for them when things are hard, and to give guidance once they have earned the right to be heard. This is one of the things that I do as a YoungLives mentor and that I hope to provide to youth in our community as a CARE Team Coach.

My family and I are Camp Fire survivors, and over the past five years have faced a variety of mental health struggles in our family, including PTSD, anxiety, and depression. We have experienced how scary and challenging navigating supportive services and mental health care can be, and this is part of why being a part of the CARE Team is important to me. I hope to be able to help youth and families feel supported and to help them know that they are not alone as they face the scary and sometimes overwhelming world of mental health care.

In a world full of instant connection and social media, it is somehow easier than ever to feel disconnected and alone, and it can be difficult to speak out when we are feeling alone or isolated or are struggling. Sometimes life feels hard, and everything seems so heavy; know that you do not have to carry it all alone. As I tell my kids “You can tell me, and then you can set it down and I can help you carry it so it’s not so heavy. And then when you’ve had a minute to catch your breath we can figure out the next small step. We don’t have to figure it all out at once. One step at a time.” If you are reading this, it means that you or a family member have probably taken that first step in reaching out for support and that is so brave.