Miss Pennsylvania Speaks at 'United We Can Lecture' Series

Miss Pennsylvania 2022 Alyssa Bainbridge recently spoke at the United We Can luncheon to help raise awareness about mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Her message is success doesn’t just happen. According to Bainbridge, people assume things come easy to others.

“The reality is that I had to try four times,” Bainbridge said. “It took several years before I could achieve that dream (of becoming Miss Pennsylvania). With failures and setbacks along the way, I didn’t give up. I didn’t give up fighting. I used those times where I didn’t become Miss Pennsylvania to just be better and be the best version of Miss PA when that time did come.”

She is founder of Tyler’s Triumph which is a non-profit that began after her brother Tyler lost his life to opioid overdose in 2018.

“We work to support others on their journey to recovery and educate the public about mental health and stigma to prevent tragedies like ours from occurring,” Bainbridge said.

Her brother battled with opioid addiction for six years. His overdose at the age of 24 in 2018 was the most tragic thing that ever happened to Bainbridge. However, her family has tried to make something positive out of something so tragic.

“We came together, my family and I, and created Tyler’s Triumph,” Bainbridge said. “We provide financial assistance and other support to people in recovery from mental health and substance use disorders. We also go around to schools and community groups and we educate about mental health and help people get intervention early enough.”

Bainbridge also spoke on the “More Than” project. She said that the point is to make sure that people have someone in their lives letting them know that they are more than their struggle or more than their mental illness.

“My brother told me on more than one occasion that he felt so defined by his addiction and so unworthy of recovery and he was no more than his addiction,” Bainbridge said.

Bainbridge told the audience that despite these setbacks and the dark and ugly people face in life, there is hope and to remember that everyone is so much more than whatever they are going through or struggling with.