Love Heals Youth 2nd Annual Gala

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX -- It’s incredible that Montgomery County went so long without it, but one strong woman took it upon herself, and made it her mission to provide support to older kids awaiting loving foster homes. Founder and CEO of ‘Love Heals Youth,’ Rebecca Smith-Nash, MA, LPC-S, was on hand this past Friday, to welcome the Who’s Who of Montgomery County, to LHY’s 2nd annual gala; to raise needed funds to keep the mission going. The event was held at the Moonlight Venue in Conroe. The room was adorned with beautiful Montgomery County ladies in the most dazzling evening gowns. Each one was a princess in her own right. And it set the stage for an enjoyable evening of catching up with friends, a great meal, a world premiere video, and a night of raising funds to make the lives of kids in foster care better in our little neck of the woods.

Love Heals Youth, whose mission is “Through LOVE, we HEAL!” Offers an in-depth counseling program for overlooked kids in foster care to help them overcome their past ordeals, to make the necessary strides to go on to be successful adults. The Conroe based non-profit, besides counseling, offers tutoring, and clothing of older kids in foster care, amongst other things.

Texas has approximately 50,000 kids in foster care, with about 350 of those kids being housed with agencies in Montgomery County. And of those kids, the statistics do not bode well for once they leave the foster care system. Approximately 80% of prison inmates grew up in foster care. About half develop a dependence on illegal drugs before they turn 25. The vast majority of gangs are kids from foster care, and almost three-quarters of aged out foster youth, will rely on government assistance by the early 20s. And the amount of kids entering foster care who have the need for mental health care is upwards of 75%.

Love Heals Youth's multi-faceted initiative assists older foster care youth, by taking their focus off their past thus giving them reasons to lift themselves above the pain they’ve endured, and live for the future. It allows them to embrace their time ahead as a challenge for the better, while learning life strategies received from LHY’s counseling to critically think about how to plan and proceed for life outside the foster care system. But of course, the true aim for kids in the foster care system is to find them loving homes so that they can feel safe again, that allows them to be kids again, in an unregimented system that normal families have everyday.

“Today we provide almost 4,000 hrs of counseling to the foster youth,” said Rebecca Nash-Smith. “Mental health is the cornerstone of Love Heals Youth, and we reach out to homes and shelters, making sure no child is beyond the reach of our help.”

Many of the kids in foster care have faced neglect; as well as physical, sexual, emotional, and even medical abuse. And quite frankly, foster kids have presented with the same “demons” that combat veterans endure in their PTSD episodes. And they even share equine therapy as a means to begin chasing off the fiends to begin their recovery on the road to healing.

The incredible story of Serenity Hubert, who is one of Smith-Nash’s success stories before she formed LHY, has led to an incredible giving back to the community with her life’s work. A graduate of Brigham Young University, with a Bachelors of Science in Marriage and Family Studies, she went on to be a Court Appointed Special Advocate, or CASA volunteer; before she began working with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Hubert started as a Child Protective Specialist, in 2019, and now works as a Conservatorship Supervisor. So Smith-Nash’s methods do show success, and it's most definitely for the better.

“I’m married and have children, and I love my work with CPS here in Montgomery County,” said Hubert. “Rebecca worked on my case about 10 years ago, and I wouldn’t be able to be where I am without her.”

One secret weapon that Smith-Nash has up her sleeve is young Montgomery singer Payton Riley, who wrote a song, “Love Heals,” based on a poem of the same name that Smith-Nash penned on her way home from a long trip. Smith-Nash and Payton met at Red Brick Tavern in Conroe, on a Saturday night in the Fall of 2021, when Rebecca heard Riley’s voice; she unabashedly interjected herself when the younger singer was sitting with her family. Incredibly, Payton and her family had discussed the night before about getting involved with foster kids. So it was a pairing evidently endorsed by God himself.

The music video premiered at the gala, and was received to great applause. It was a collaboration with Carla McDougal, the founder of Reflective Media Productions, which produces the faith-based streaming mystery series, ‘Breaking Strongholds,’ filmed mostly in Montgomery. Smith-Nash and Riley, were practically stumbled upon by McDougal, at the Woodlands Community Prayer Breakfast back in April. And like any good enterprise, the trio combined their talents, and by last fall, they were ready to shoot the video to the song.

For 2024, Reflective Media Productions partnered with Love Heals Youth as ‘Mission Ministry Partners’. RMP produced the music video to help share the mission of Love Heals Youth.

“Being the producer, I love the video,” said McDougal. “When I heard Rebecca speak and Payton sing at a prayer breakfast, I just knew in my gut that I was gonna do a music video with them.”

Smith-Nash’s own son’s Stephen, 7, and Shane, 9, played the parts of the little boys in the video, which was filmed at the old Yancey property off of Honey Egypt by FM 2854.

“I cannot listen to Payton’s song without crying,” said Jenny Lloyd, who volunteers with LHY. “Her music is so incredibly impactful, and heartfelt.”

Smith-Nash’s parents Brenda and Jerry Smith, play an integral part in the Love Heals Youth gameplan. They somehow acquire thousands of pieces of clothing, new and gently used, for LHY’s ‘Mobile Clothes Closet,’ which makes the rounds to the group homes that house foster youth around Montgomery County. All without any cost to the kids or the homes. They do ‘Welcome Home Bags’, as well as assists in the new ‘undergarment drives,’ at different parts of the year, as well as drives for school backpacks and supplies. They are an extremely busy couple, and it was definitely appropriate that LHY presented Brenda and Jerry, as the 2024 recipients of the ‘Heart of Gold Award.’

“I think we pulled off an incredible event tonight,” said Smith-Nash. “I’m excited to have all these folks here to raise awareness, so that the kids will be seen and heard, and not remain in the shadows.”

Each month LHY holds a ‘Day of Counseling’, for the kids, in which they go through a series of therapeutic stations to learn skills in relation to anger-management, boundaries, self-esteem, coping, and relationship skills. In addition, Social Service Projects are held monthly to raise awareness and gather items to help the foster youth belong and have a sense of belonging.

Love Heals Youth website is: lovehealsyouth.com Please make-a-donation or volunteer. No one takes a salary at LHY, so donations go a long way into ensuring the kids’ counseling, educational, and clothing needs are met.

Reflective Media Productions website is: www.reflectivemedia.org Please make a donation or volunteer.

The link to Payton’s Love Heals video is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3dIF2N8aVQ

Ruben can be reached at: ruben@montgomerycountynews.net

Photos