In January 2023, Brandy initiated the nonprofit organization, “For Ryan’s Sake (FRS)”, after the untimely death of her youngest son, Ryan R. Rowe. On April 9, 2022, Ryan was maliciously gunned down in his own neighborhood by a group of his peers. Unfortunately, Ryan’s death adds to the statistic of the number one cause of death among adolescents and teenagers, GUN VIOLENCE!
The mission and vision of For Ryan’s Sake (FRS) is to work with families and communities to empower and improve middle and high school aged students’ academic success. This will be accomplished through character building activities, and mentoring partnerships with the aspiration to divert youth from teen and gun violence.
For Ryan’s Sake (FRS) was birthed from Brandy’s disheartened experience in finding long-term and unconventional mentorship programs available in her community, to assist in helping students and teenagers like Ryan. Intelligent and gifted youth who need personalized and rewarding assistance on a long-term basis, to help them stay on course to successfully graduate high school, and venture on to either enrolling in college or training in a skilled trade.
Brandy’s vision seeks to bridge the gap between parents, schools, and communities to help empower and improve middle and high school aged students’ academic success. The efforts behind this initiative is to combat gun and teen violence. Brandy, & For Ryan’s Sake (FRS) supporters believe in community, and the efforts produced are laser focused on supporting individual students in their decision-making process regardless of their environment. Brandy’s hope with the initiation of FRS is to create environments of community support, to help uplift one child at a time, and to ultimately save another child’s life from gun violence.