Canaan, CT - For the third year in a row, Mountainside Treatment Center will be providing $10,000 worth of academic scholarships to high school juniors and seniors living in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The substance abuse treatment provider created the Mountainside Brighter Future College Scholarship to support students who have been impacted by substance use disorders in sharing their stories and raising awareness of addiction’s impact on families.

Addiction has a ripple effect beyond the individual struggling. For adolescents whose parents misuse substances, the consequences can be profound, affecting a young person’s emotional development as well as communication and trust within their interpersonal relationships. Studies show that 21 million children in the United States live with a parent who misuses substances and more than two million live with a parent who struggles with a substance use disorder.

Young people also grapple with substance misuse firsthand due to factors such as peer pressure or the belief that substances will help them improve their grades or athletic ability. According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, 62 percent of adolescents have abused alcohol by their senior year of high school and 46 percent have tried illicit drugs. These substance use habits can have fatal consequences, with over 11 percent of total overdose deaths impacting those aged 15 to 24. For Mountainside, the Brighter Future College Scholarship is just one step in a series of community efforts to educate and empower those struggling to reach out for help.

Interested applicants will need to submit a short essay explaining how they have been impacted by their own or a loved one’s substance use disorder and how it’s shaped their understanding of the disease. Through the Brighter Future Scholarship, Mountainside strives to assist individuals affected by addiction in the pursuit of their academic and life ambitions, emphasizing that this illness should not be a defining characteristic for anyone.

The $10,000 in scholarship funds will be provided by Mountainside as $1,000 awards to ten scholarship applicants. The deadline to apply for the scholarship will be May 1, 2024,?and winners will be announced later that same month.

For more information about the scholarship and the essay guidelines, visit:?https://mountainside.com/scholarships/brighter-future/