Written by Kathy Mitchell. Kathy had served for 24 years as the Vice President and Spokesperson for FASD United.
Dr. Yolanda Ross was a longtime FASD advocate who was passionate about helping women lead healthy, successful, productive, and self-fulfilling lives—lives grounded in hope, dignity, and the possibility of long-term recovery.
Yolanda first contacted me nearly 20 years ago because she wanted to help FASD United (then NOFAS) prevent FASD. She sent me a photograph of her beautiful daughter, Hannah, who had recently been diagnosed with FAS. I promised Yolanda that if NOFAS ever received funding that would allow us to hire advocates, she would be at the top of my list.
We became fast friends.
Yolanda would call me often, and over the years she continued to send me photographs of Hannah as she grew. She absolutely adored her daughter. Hannah was the apple of her eye, and the love Yolanda had for her was unmistakable.
A few years later, NOFAS received funding through SAMHSA, and I founded The Circle of Hope (COH), a mentoring program for birth mothers of children born with FASD. Yolanda became a member of the Circle of Hope and represented the program as our Texas representative at the SAMHSA FASD Center for Excellence annual meetings.
Dr. Ross had a remarkable and inspiring story of transformation and recovery. She was willing to share the painful realities of her past—including addiction, desperation, poverty, abuse, fear, and living with HIV. Once she found treatment for her substance use disorder, there was no stopping her.
Yolanda pursued an education with determination and purpose. She earned her bachelor’s degree, followed by a master’s degree, became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC), and most recently earned her PhD.
But Yolanda didn’t pursue education simply for the degrees. She pursued knowledge because she wanted to help other women. She took her story of addiction and recovery across Texas and eventually across the country, sharing it with healthcare professionals, families, advocates, and women whose lives had been touched by substance use.
She became a speaker for the NOFAS Circle of Hope speaker’s bureau that partnered with ACOG FASD Champions to co-facilitate FASD Grand Rounds across the United States.
I could never begin to guess how many lives were changed because Dr. Yolanda Ross was willing to tell her story.
Her courage gave healthcare providers something that statistics and clinical information alone could never provide: a human story. Through Yolanda, they could see the possibility and importance of intervention, treatment, recovery, and a life beyond addiction. Her story helped countless providers understand that women who struggle with a SUD need compassion, support, and someone willing to believe in their ability to recover.
And that understanding is at the heart of FASD prevention.
When healthcare providers understand the realities women face, they are more likely to ask the difficult questions, screen for substance use, offer support, and help women find the treatment and resources they need. Yolanda understood this deeply because she had lived it.
I am so proud to have called Dr. Yolanda Ross my dear friend—and my sister in recovery.
She was kind and compassionate, but she was also fierce. She was fueled by an extraordinary desire to help other women who struggled with addiction find their way to recovery and hope.
I loved her deeply.
She made me laugh.
She made me cry.
She made me proud.
She amazed me.
And she made a difference.
Yolanda, I love you, and I want to thank you for everything you did to make this world a better place for women, for families, for children, and for all of us who had the privilege of knowing you.
Your story mattered.
Your courage mattered.
Your life mattered.
And your legacy will continue through the countless lives you touched.
Your sister in recovery,
Kathy Mitchell XOX