OUR SPEAKERS

Program Instructors

All our programs include classes taught by expert speakers from Orange County. We work with deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Department, nurses from Mission Hospital's Emergency & Trauma Room, licensed marriage and family therapists, and district attorneys from Orange County.

  • Pete Hilen, LMFT

    Clinical Facilitator, JADE Program

  • Brian Nissen

    Drug Recognition Expert, JADE Program

  • Shelly Snider

    ER Presentation, JADE, New Beginnings, and Project Intervention

  • Michael McArthur, RN

    ER Presentation, JADE, New Beginnings, Project Intervention

Parent Impact Speakers

The incorporation of parent impact speakers is just one of the many things that sets CYS apart.  An integral part of many of our programs involves parents that share their personal stories of struggle and ways they have coped with a child struggling with addiction and/or the passing of a child as a result of drug abuse.  Each parent has a very different story but all with a common theme: a life taken too soon and a family forever changed.

  • Gil & Flo Mulhere

    After losing our son Kevin to a drug overdose on February 2, 2003, we sought ways to help other parents and teens understand the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. This journey has been tough, but being part of California Youth Services (CYS) has been rewarding. We aim to prevent the pain, damage, lost potential, and even death that substance abuse and delinquent behavior can cause for youth and their families. We believe we are making a difference in many lives. This is our commitment to work with CYS in memory of our beloved son Kevin, whom we love and miss dearly.

  • David Hungerford

    Since we lost Shanon to a drug overdose, the pain and sadness are hard to express. How could such a bright and popular girl fall into drug abuse? Her story shows that no young person is safe from its dangers. After her death, I promised that Shanon wouldn’t be forgotten. I believed her life had meaning and purpose. If her story could help others, then her short life would leave a positive impact. Since joining CYS, I have talked to many young people and their parents. I truly believe that Shanon and I are helping save other lives, and she would be proud of our efforts.

Substance Abuse Survivor Impact Speakers

Many people misunderstand drug and alcohol overdoses. One goal of our Survivor Impact Speakers is to show that an overdose doesn’t always lead to death. They share personal stories of mistakes, substance use, overdose, and recovery. Each speaker has a unique story and talks openly about their struggles with overdose and recovery, emphasizing that just one bad choice can change your life and the lives of others.

  • Matthew Thomas

    At nineteen Matt was fresh out of high school with a football scholarship to Brigham Young University (BYU). He was living on his own, and living the dream with a job at Candid Camera. In 1991, he made the decision that landed him in in critical condition in coma and left with just a 5% chance of living.  Matt spent three months in a coma and approximately four months in the hospital.   Matt’s recovery was tedious and he spent 12 months in an in-house head injury program near Northridge Hospital called the TGI Care House. At the time, he still could not read, write, shave, shower, or dress on his own. These were all skills that he had to re-teach himself.

    Matt became an advocate for not only the consequences of intoxicated driving, but also the support that disabled people need in order to improve their quality of life. Matt enjoys giving presentations about the consequences of drinking and driving at several of our programs and trying to get through to people before they could potentially make the same mistakes he did. Matt's story touches the hearts of those around him as his amazing presentation is filled with a level of caring and compassion for traumatic brain injury victims that only one who has lived through the experience can provide. In 2011, Matt decided to put together Positive Matters, a foundation that encourages disabled people to physically push their abilities further through recreation.

  • Byron Remeyer

    On August 2, 2013 Byron was a passenger in an auto versus tree accident. He was in the car with a drunk driver and they had run into a tree driving down Crown Valley in Laguna Niguel. When the paramedics came to the scene both the driver and Byron were unconscious and the car was wrapped around the tree on the passenger side.  Byron sustained multiple brain injuries, an occipital bone fracture, and a right clavicular fracture. Byron has always been extremely musically inclined. The bleeding Byron sustained to the temporal lobe of the brain (the portion of the brain in charge of sound and music recognition) has had serious long-term implications. Since there was additional bleeding on the left side of the basal ganglia, the right side of his body has suffered levels of paralysis.  Physical therapy over the years has started working but it has been a long and difficult road; one that has affected him and his whole family.