America’s Chicken-and-Egg Crisis: Why Homelessness and Addiction Cannot Be Solved Separately7/31/2026
By Ardra Arwin, Sophomore at Skyline High School and member of TECH.  Homeless camps at Seattle's Downtown area A conversation I had with a woman who had experienced both homelessness and recovery changed the way I think about this issue.
I expected to hear a story about housing. Instead, she told me about loneliness. She described how people often focus on the moment someone loses a home, but rarely ask what happened years before. Her story was not defined by a single event. It was shaped by trauma, mental health struggles, addiction, fractured relationships, and a gradual loss of stability. By Mudra Machewad, TECH Youth Coalition Member & Founder, LakeSafe Initiative Last week, something remarkable happened, and it started right here in our community.
On June 30, 2026, Mudra Machewad, founder of the LakeSafe Initiative and TECH Youth Coalition member, had the honor of presenting as a panelist at a national webinar hosted by CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America), The Premier Prevention Association. The webinar, Competencies in Focus: Implementation, brought together over 123 coalition leaders, public health professionals, and prevention advocates from across the United States. And the LakeSafe Initiative, a youth-led drowning prevention effort born right here in our community, was selected as a featured real-world example of what effective coalition implementation looks like. By Divisha Arora, incoming junior at Skyline High School and member of TECH There’s a strange kind of exhaustion that comes from pretending you’re okay all the time.
Not the exhaustion from homework, sports, clubs, or lack of sleep, even though those are real too. I mean the kind that comes from smiling in the hallway while your mind feels heavy. The kind where you answer “I’m good” automatically because explaining the truth feels too complicated. I think a lot of teenagers know this feeling, even if nobody talks about it out loud. By Ardra Arwin - Member of TECH, student at Skyline High School  When people think about sustainability, they often focus on climate change, recycling, or clean energy. Conversations around substance abuse prevention, on the other hand, tend to center on personal health and individual decision-making. However, these two issues are more closely connected than they appear.
At the Issaquah Sustainability Fair 2026, it became clear that sustainability is not only about protecting the environment, but also about shaping the spaces we live in and the behaviors we normalize. The choices individuals make, especially young people, extend beyond personal impact and influence community health and safety. When people think about drowning prevention, they usually picture life jackets, swimming lessons, and warning signs at the water's edge. Those things matter - a lot. But there's a piece of the prevention picture that doesn't get talked about nearly enough, and it starts long before anyone steps near the water.
According to King County Public Health, between 60 and 70 percent of drowning deaths in King County involved drugs or alcohol. Let that land for a moment. In the majority of cases, the critical decision point wasn't at the shoreline - it was on dry land, hours earlier, when someone made a choice about what to consume before heading to the lake. This is where Influence the Choice's work and LakeSafe Initiative's work meet. And it's why we're proud to be partners.  Cannabis has a reputation for being harmless and is now widely socially acceptable. In many ways, it is less harmful than other substances - it isn’t strongly linked to cancer like alcohol, and the risk of fatal overdose isn’t present in the same way it is with alcohol, illicit substances, or prescription drug misuse. But “harmless” depends on how we define harm. Physical harm is only one part of the picture. Cannabis can also have mental, emotional, and functional impacts, affecting memory, motivation, mood regulation, and stress tolerance.
This year was full of growth, impact, and youth-led achievements.
In a year marked by both challenges and opportunities, Influence the Choice remained focused on what matters most: empowering youth, engaging our community, and advancing prevention efforts that create lasting change. Thanks to the commitment of students, staff, volunteers, and community partners, 2025 was a year of continued progress, meaningful connection, and youth-driven impact across our programs. By: Fiona Ton (Student and Member of TECH Youth Coalition)
Authors Note: As a Sophomore at Liberty High School in Renton, WA, I take great pride in sharing my thoughts and voice here at the TECH Youth Coalition in Influence the Choice (Teens Encouraging Community Health). Here at TECH, I am welcomed to a very inclusive and approachable environment filled with many students with views to change the world in terms of mental health and substance use. I am extremely honored here at TECH to be a part of this organization as I get to explore new meaningful opportunities ranging from promoting campaigns to having the chance to talk to Washington legislators about our cause and our ideas. I believe that the topic of alcohol use regarding teens is very important for me because living in a society where people close to me are affected by alcohol concerns me as a teenager myself and a representative to advocate for more awareness. I take this chance to spread my ideas and personal thoughts regarding mental health to give a voice for my community, and I hope to one day to create a healthier future and environment. Being a member and advocate under TECH Youth Coalition will bring me further in sharing my voice.  By Erica Vogt, ITC Program Coordinator If you’re a parent trying to make sense of vaping, especially how it compares to the cigarettes many of us remember from years ago, you’re not alone. We often hear questions about “cigarettes vs. vapes” and the short answer is vapes and cigarettes are different, but today’s vaping products come with serious risks, especially for young people. Here’s what’s important to know right now.
By Ardra Arwin, student at Skyline High School and member of TECH
I’ve always believed that you don’t need to change who you are to have fun. You just need to be around the right people, doing the things that make you feel alive. For me, that’s what it means to live substance-free. It’s not about saying “no” to something — it’s about saying “yes” to myself! It’s about protecting the parts of me that make me who I am: my creativity, my curiosity, and my love for life. |