This has been a great year for our Youth Peer Educators! We have reached out to various populations and encouraged many youth to get tested for HIV and STDs. They have been such a great group of youth to work with and they all made a difference in helping with the fight against HIV/AIDS in the Sacramento community. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to this program!
The Youth Peer Educators were asked: What was your best memory in this program?
My best memory at CARES.
To be completely cliché and sappy, I really cannot pinpoint just one outstanding super awesome memory. Whether it was going to the Sacramento Pride Parade, going down to the Delta in the Migrant Camps, or giving HIV 101 to a bunch of kids 12 and up, or going to UC Davis, every memory has a special place in my heart. Never would I have thought that the word “cock ring” would become part of my natural vocabulary. With this job, I got to experience a whole new side of Sacramento, meet amazing and talented people and have some of the most hilarious and awkward, out-of-pocket and intimate conversations with them. I will never forget training and properly learning how to put a condom on those wiggly, veiny dildos, nor will I forget everyone I have met and the heart to heart conversations I have had. Those conversations and those experiences will always have a (here comes the cheesiness) special place in my heart.
Peace out, I’m done being a mushball and I love CARES! Take care and stay safe <3
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Dearest SacPOP,
I can only begin by acknowledging how grateful I am to have known you. I never considered this as just a job, but rather, a gathering of community working towards a common goal. This would explain my eagerness to meet with you every chance I got. You see, what you did for me goes beyond the surface, it runs deeper than the superficial. Thank you for reminding me to not be complacent or feel hopeless about the marginalization and inequities that still exist in my community, locally and globally. With every painful dose of reality in our outreach work also came a sense of purpose and fulfillment. It was in this duality of sentiments that I felt, and will continue to feel, most alive. Thank you for pushing me through moments of feeling uncomfortable because of what I did not know or understand, thus making me grow as a human being.
I take with me more than just the trained technical skills in the fight against HIV/AIDS. As a Peer Youth Educator, I can never undo what I have been taught and what I have internalized: HIV/AIDS knows every color, ability, sexual orientation, age, and gender. Thank you for allowing us to work the frontlines as well as the background scenes, for taking us on an adventure, giving us perspective to the various avenues of life: outreach at Loaves & Fishes to Pride to migrant camps, etc. Although it would seem that our momentum has come to a halt, rest assured that it truly hasn’t, for you have planted seeds of awareness and community activism within all of us.
To Crystal, Gospel, Lauren, Jenise, Francisco, JonnyRonny, Erich, Monique – I enjoyed spending every moment together: working, laughing, and growing. And of course, a huge expression of gratitude to our dedicated mentor and leader Ericka Dennis, a truly phenomenal woman, who allowed us to fly creatively and cultivated our ideas tirelessly. So, to you SacPOP, my peers and outreach mentors, I humbly say thank you for all you’ve done for me and will continue to do for me as I continue on my way. I wish you wellness and prosperity in the directions that you will go. May our paths cross again, and may those who carry on the name of SacPOP be ignited with the passion and commitment that this program/community inspires.
With much respect and love,
Alejandra Fernandez Garcia
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10 months!! Short time but so many memories. This experience working with Cares has been fun and very educational. Working here I met a whole new group of amazing friends and we all share one thing in common, we all love helping the community and giving to others. We all created so many memories and one memory that I have as my best memory here at Cares is our first very meeting. We all not only meet a whole new group of 11 friends that day but we also met a whole building of amazing people. Cares clinic welcomed each and every one of us into the clinic with open loving arms. All the staff members here at the clinic have been really nice and always very friendly.
The first day walking into this building will always be my best memory I have of Cares.
– JonnyRonnyBonny 🙂
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I got a kick out of meeting so many different people this year, especially my fellow Youth Peer Educators and superiors at Cares. My best memory would probably be set at the very beginning: orientation. Getting a condom and lube demonstration was a riot and learning about HIV 101 was an eye opener for a start. But most of all I’ll be grateful to this program and the Cares community for allowing young people like me to talk about sex truthfully, accurately, and respectfully. There aren’t many communities or jobs where honesty regarding some of the most taboo subjects is encouraged; I know I did not have a long list of people I could talk to about the subjects that we deal with daily and having that outlet was refreshing.
Not only did I listen and learn while in this program, but it allowed me to have a voice, as well. Keeping this blog, doing videos/photography, and doing presentations or talks made me realize that it’s important for everyone’s voice to be heard regarding HIV, STDs, and sex, regardless of experience or “sexual prowess”. I became more comfortable in my skin when I talked with others who I realized were like me.
I genuinely feel like I’ve acquired some life-long lessons, skills, and friends while in this program and my experience here may never be duplicated again.
I owe Cares Community Health a huge debt for giving to me an education and community I can’t get anywhere else. It was definitely unique being a part of this team.
Thanks for the best job ever.
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Here are some highlights of our year! Once again, thank you all and I could not have done it without you!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYhowBLqg2A]