Three folks from San Ysidro Health gave TGZC an awesome interview, read on below!
Intro: Name and Title
My name is Jessica and I am a health educator for San Ysidro Health.
My name is Ashley and I am a health educator for San Ysidro Health.
My name is Angelica and I am a Health Educator for SYH.
Tell us all about you and your organization!
At San Ysidro Health (SYH), were a federally qualified non-profit health care
organization and there are SYH clinics all over South San Diego, a border town neighboring Tijuana, Baja California. The clinic that I work at specifically is called the Teen Clinic. At the Teen Clinic, we offer free and confidential sexual and reproductive health services for people ages 12-24. Services include: birth control, STI testing, pregnancy testing, general counseling, and more. Our team of health educators not only works in the clinic but we also go out into the community, do outreach and offer sex ed curriculum at the high schools and middle schools in our service area. Because of CO-VID 19 we’re not able to go into the community so we are heavily relying on social media outreach.
Why do you think it’s important for your generation to let their voices be heard?
I think our generation is the one who knows they can make lasting impacts on the future if they start now. Their voices are far from shy and can speak widely on various issues impacting people all over the world. They know passion and advocating can make a difference and hopefully spread to future generations to come (a voice was not made to be silent).
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future?
So this is a hard one...I am an optimistic person in general and I always hope for the best. For me personally, I am optimistic about the future especially with what I have seen this generation accomplish. Yet, I think it is important to remain realistic that not everyone is like us. We can hope for the best always, but we need to realize we may not always be the majority and recognize all the corruption happening in our world. It is important to stay on your toes and be a little pessimistic about the future so you can be prepared if the worst is yet to come.
What are the most important issues facing our world right now? And in the future?
Pandemic is a huge one we are currently facing. We, humans, have to learn to naviugate things differently now and change can be hard for some. This pandemic has/might have added more stress/anxiety to other issues we’ve been facing like: access to health insurance, services, esp reproductive health and mental health services are issues the world is facing now. Along with other social justice issues like police brutality, racism, funding for education, immigrations issues, and the overall safety of humans.
What does your organization offer that helps the world be a better place?
Our organization offers services and resources for reproductive health, mental health, well-being, presentations on a variety of topics to help start normalizing youth engage in conversation among their peers and family members.
Will you be voting in the next election?
Yes, I will be voting this year and I encourage young people to get involved in their local elections, educate themselves on the propositions that are on the ballot so that they can make an impact within their own community. - Jessica
YES! Voting is extremely important and whether we like it or not, politics is all around us. Educating ourselves and others on voting is the key to getting people we want in our local, state and federal offices.
YES! Voting is one of the ways we can help create change!!! It’s important for younger folks to get involved and educate themselves on politics and policies. Even if you’re not of age to vote yet, you can still be part of the process.
Please tell us all about your current campaigns, projects and endeavors.
Right now, our social media is focusing on sex positivity. Sex positivity is teaching sex ed through a positive lens and not shaming people but instead encouraging people to feel empowered when talking about their sexuality and sexual health. You can find us at @SYHTeenClinic on Instagram and our website is www.syhteenclinic.org