Written By: Jocelyn Escobar

When a student in the city of Perris quietly approached nurse turned substance abuse advocate Amber Royer after a school assembly, he confessed that he had been struggling with marijuana use and had a tumultuous homelife. The student shared that the presentation had given him a reason to reach out for help, something he had never done before.

With compassion and connection, Out of the Ashes Organization (OOA) helped him find a mentor and joined a youth-led support group. A small step that became a turning point in his life. Instead of letting his struggles spiral further, he chose to reach out for help, showing incredible courage and maturity for someone his age. Today, he’s happy with how far he’s come and still checks in with Royer to share his growth and milestones. Their ongoing connection is a reminder that one genuine conversation can spark hope, and that’s exactly what OOA strives to do every day across Riverside County.

Founded in 2023 and based in Hemet, California, Out of the Ashes emerged from devastating personal loss. Its founder, a longtime healthcare provider, Royer, lost her 18-year-old son, Richard, to a counterfeit fentanyl-laced pill. What began as a mother’s mission to raise awareness has grown into a powerful community organization educating thousands about the dangers of fentanyl and the importance of compassion in prevention.

“I was a nurse most of my life, and I had heard of fentanyl in a clinical setting,” she explains. “But I didn’t know about illicit fentanyl until I lost my precious first-born son. How can I expect other families to know if I didn’t?”

Her rallying cry, “Our children should learn from their mistakes, not die from them”, captures the urgency and humanity that drives Out of the Ashes’ work.

OOA’s mission centers on education, harm reduction and family support. Through dynamic presentations and workshops in schools, churches and community spaces, the nonprofit provides youth and parents with life-saving knowledge about fentanyl, counterfeit pills and prevention strategies.

Their services include:

• Fentanyl Awareness & Education: Delivering school assemblies and community events that teach the risks of illicit fentanyl and empower youth to make safer choices.
• Harm Reduction Training: Offering free Naloxone (Narcan) trainings and distributing test strips to help prevent overdose deaths.
• Support for Families: Guiding parents on how to start meaningful conversations about drug use and connecting them to local resources.
• Community Partnerships: Collaborating with nonprofits, schools, and public health departments to expand outreach and dismantle stigma.
• Faith-Based and Trauma-Informed Approach: Combining professional expertise with lived experience to meet people where they are with compassion, not judgment.

In just two years, Out of the Ashes has already educated more than 10,000 students, parents and community members through in-person and virtual presentations. The organization has distributed hundreds of Narcan kits and fentanyl test strips, provided free overdose response training, and developed accessible resources such as parent conversation guides downloaded across multiple states.

Families often share that these presentations led to life-changing conversations with their children and in some cases prevented tragedies before they occurred. Each story, each student, and each life touched reflects OOA’s unwavering belief that awareness saves lives and compassion transforms communities.

With the support of the IEHP Foundation’s Capacity Building Grant in Summer 2024, the nonprofit strengthened its business operations and outreach capabilities. The funding allowed the team to purchase essential accounting equipment, design new educational booklets and eBooks for students, and expand digital resources that extend their reach far beyond Riverside County.

“The Foundation’s support gave us the ability to grow strategically,” says Royer. “It helped us create the tools we needed to continue reaching youth, parents, and educators who might not otherwise have access to this information.”

At its core, Out of the Ashes is a movement of love rising from tragedy. It is a reminder that change often begins with a single voice refusing to stay silent. By combining education,

empathy, and community action, OOA is helping to build a future overdoses are prevented and every individual and family has access to live a healthy and happy life.