Stephen Montoya
By the time Avy Taylor arrived at Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima, the world was already beginning to close. It was March 2020, and she was one of the last Americans trying to get out before Peru sealed its borders. Masked federal officers checked her documents. An impromptu news interview ensued on her way out. The air was thick with panic.
For Taylor, now Miss Fort Worth 2025 and a current candidate for Miss Texas, the panic wasn’t new. What was new was the clarity. She had spent the past few months in Picapiedra, a remote village of fewer than 100 people, living and working at a children’s shelter called Fundación Santa Martha. Her days were long and repetitive — hand-washing clothes, tutoring lessons, cooking meals over a fire — but they gave her a sense of purpose she hadn’t felt in years.
“I remember being on the roof of the Santa Martha shelter with a young girl named Milagros,” she told me. “We were hanging clothes, and I asked her what she was looking forward to that weekend. She was so quiet — she barely spoke. But she looked at me and said she hoped I’d stay there forever.”
Taylor chokes up remembering it. That sentence — “I hope you stay forever” — cracked something wide open in her. “These were children who had experienced real human suffering,” she said. “And yet they trusted me. That was everything. That’s when I realized my purpose was bigger than myself.”
She hadn’t gone to Peru on assignment. There was no mission trip, no university-sanctioned program. Just a backpack and a need to get as far away from Texas as possible. A few months earlier, she’d left UT Austin in the midst of a mental health crisis.
Stephen Montoya
“I was dealing with severe clinical depression and suicidal thoughts,” she said. “I had a breakdown. I didn’t know what I was doing or who I was, so I went backpacking in South America to figure it out.”
She hitchhiked. She lived in shelters. She showed up where she was needed. Slowly, she found a version of herself that felt whole again.
When she returned to Texas, she began building something new — something she now calls Hope’s Toolbox. It’s a suicide prevention initiative based on the same practices that helped her through her lowest points: cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, , and crisis planning. Since then, she’s spoken at local schools, worked with the National Alliance on Mental Illness and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention , and logged more than 300 volunteer hours. She even lobbied at the state Capitol for increased funding for 988 and education loan repayment for mental health professionals
Somewhere along the way, she entered a local pageant. Not for the crown, but for the microphone.
“I’ve always been serious about my professional development,” she said. “And Miss America is a great platform for public speaking, for networking, for getting your message in front of people who can actually help you make a difference.”
Stephen Montoya
Turns out she was pretty good at it. In August 2024, she was crowned Miss Fort Worth. Now, as she runs for Miss Texas, she’s bringing more than talent and polish to the stage. She’s bringing lived experience. The Miss Texas and Miss Texas’ Teen competitions will be held from June 21 – 28 , 2025, at the Eisemann Center. The Miss Texas preliminary show is set for Tuesday-Thursday, June 24-26, with the final show on Saturday, June 28. Taylor will take the stage alongside contestants from across the state, carrying with her not just a crown, but a purpose.
Beyond her collection of sequined gowns, Taylor expresses herself through a few surprising talents — playing the violin and sharp stand-up comedy. She’s a regular at Dallas Comedy Club, juggling improv and jokes in between pageant rehearsals. It might seem like an unlikely combination, but for Taylor, comedy has been nothing short of survival.
“I’m the only [pageant contestant] I know of who does standup,” she said. “But honestly, it makes sense. I grew up with a rare form of stuttering called speech blocking. I couldn’t even say my own name without struggling. But I figured out that if I could make people laugh, they’d want to be around me.”
Now, she’s hoping to make a different kind of connection — one that reaches people who feel isolated in their pain. Especially young people.
“I want to be the first Miss Texas with lived experience of depression and suicidal thoughts,” she said. “It’s so important to have a role model who’s honest. I want to show people that it’s possible to go through hardships and still be successful. Still have people believe in you and still represent a state.”
Website: hopes-toolbox.com
Social Media: @missfortworthtx
If you or someone you know needs mental health help, CALL or TEXT 988, or CHAT988lifeline.org to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
