How Generation S.O.S. Empowers Teens to Talk about Mental Health and Substance Misuse
by ELLIMAN INSIDER TEAM
June 2025
In 2015, after six New York City high school students died of accidental drug overdoses in quick succession, Robin Aviv convened a gathering of teens and parents one evening in the living room of her apartment to begin the vitally necessary conversation that no one seemed to be having.
As the mother of three children then in high school—and having served recently as PTA president—Aviv certainly had skin in the game. And as a recovering addict who’s been sober for decades, she had “lived the nightmare” of turning to substance use for emotional escape. The kids in the room that night were scared. Many of them had known those who had died.
But Aviv knew that it wasn’t her own story that they needed to hear.
“I’ve had the privilege of meeting incredible young people in recovery, who have been down this path and who have amazing stories to share,” she said. “So, I invited one of these young people into my living room to share their story with this group, and I saw the magic that happened.”
After listening in pin-drop silence to the speaker’s account of how depression and anxiety led to a spiral of drug use and addiction that fortunately ended with recovery, the teens in the room responded in kind—with candor and vulnerability of their own and relief at learning that they were not alone.
“It was being in an environment with their peers and listening to a peer be so vulnerable that enabled them to open up the way they did,” Aviv said. “We knew we were onto something really special.”
The Power of Storytelling
The conversation that began that afternoon has since grown far beyond her living room. Teens who attended those early in-home meetings—including Aviv’s son—went on to start student-led clubs at their schools. They persuaded administrators to hold assemblies where students could hear from and connect with peers who shared and understood their struggles.
So began Generation S.O.S. (for “Sharing Our Stories”), a nonprofit initiative founded by Aviv to empower young people to talk, listen, and learn about the mental health challenges that can lead them to drug and alcohol misuse and addiction. Now a 501(c)3 with national reach (and a board of directors that includes Douglas Elliman agent Paul Brennan), the organization powers a network and platform for teens, schools, and other institutions to connect with speakers, video content, and other free resources focused on education and prevention.
“According to mental health research, more than half of all young people will have a serious mental health challenge during adolescence,” said Jim Hood, Chief Executive Officer of Generation S.O.S. “And close to a third of those go on to develop a serious substance problem.”
Hood knows the profound pain and loss behind those numbers intimately: his oldest son struggled with depression and addiction for nearly seven years before dying of an overdose just before his 21st birthday.
While Generation S.O.S. does not offer treatment or recovery services for those who struggle with addiction, Hood and Aviv believe the organization’s focus on the transformative power of sharing stories can “give them a doorway” that leads to the help they need.
"Addiction is a powerful force that respects no boundaries, age included," Elliman's Brennan added. "Having been young once myself (a long time ago), I imagined the years of emotional agony I could have saved myself had I heard my story through another young person’s voice, coupled with a pathway to recovery. We all need hope, and the willingness to face life on life’s terms. Generation S.O.S opens that door early in life—and the earlier the better!"
The Power of Vulnerability
For Generation S.O.S., the key to unlocking that doorway is its “curated group of speakers” that provides storytellers to the growing network of student-led clubs, school assemblies, and meetups at other institutions.
“We have somebody on our staff—a young person in recovery who goes to a lot of meetings—and her job is to find us great speakers in different parts of the country who can speak on different topics and identify with different types of audiences including public schools, private schools and under-resourced communities” said Aviv.
The groups can pick speakers based on the topics they want to cover, she added, whether it’s depression, anxiety, eating disorders, perfectionism, or bullying, among the many challenges young people face.
One of those volunteer speakers is Jack Rooney, a Palm Beach-based agent for Douglas Elliman whom Aviv has known for years and invited him to share his own journey to sobriety.
“What I love about the organization is that it really targets the right age, those pivotal years when kids are starting to deal with mental health issues and be around substances for the first time,” said Rooney, who has spoken at several Generation S.O.S. events, including at Miami Country Day.
And what sets the organization apart, he added, is the focus on “creating a safe space to have a healthy conversation,” as opposed to preaching abstinence or “scaring kids straight” like D.A.R.E., the “War on Drugs”-era initiative launched in the 1980s.
“When people make themselves extremely vulnerable to tell their stories to a group of other people, it allows others to get vulnerable and raise their hands and say, ‘Hey, I’ve dealt with this, too,’” Rooney said. “I think Generation S.O.S. has really mastered that.”
A crucial part of the storytelling, Aviv said, is when speakers share the strategies that enable them to cope with the ongoing mental health challenges. And while the organization’s focus remains on extending the reach of its in-person events at schools and other venues (it currently has a presence in some 60 high schools, colleges, clubs, and community groups), Generation S.O.S. is also creating additional, free-to-access digital resources, including S.O.S. Tool Kits and a library of speaker videos.
With an annual summer fundraising celebration set for Sunday, August 24, in Water Mill, NY, Aviv and Hood look forward to continued growth and support from organizations like Douglas Elliman that enables them to keep sharing stories.
“We want Generation S.O.S. to be in every school in America,” Aviv said. “We know we can do it. We just need people to help us broadcast and be a megaphone for what we do, and we’re so excited that Douglas Elliman can be a part of that.”
To donate, get involved, and learn more, visit GenerationSOS.org.
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