 Hey y’all! Alyssa, TAC’s new AmeriCorps member here. Each month, I’ll be reporting about what’s going on with what was formerly known as TAC’s “Youth Arm” but will now be referred to as Peer Helpers; I’ll be sharing what the South Bend, Raymond, and Willapa Valley teens are planning, what they are working on, and what they accomplish. I’ll also be writing about my AmeriCorps team, the Pacific County Resiliency Corps and about some of the work we are doing in both North and South Pacific County. About Me: I was raised in a tiny town in rural Wisconsin called Necedah and I graduated with a B.S. in Health Promotion/Wellness and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point in 2014. I moved here from Northern California where I served with AmeriCorps at the Laytonville Healthy Start Family Resource Center for about a year. I am passionate about holistic health and wellness and particularly interested in mental health, but during my time in Laytonville, I worked primarily with K-12 students and fell in love with working with teens in peer mentoring, teen leadership, and extracurricular programs. When I read about the work TAC is doing, I knew I wanted to get involved; that’s how I ended up here in gorgeous Pacific County! I also love hiking, writing and performing poetry, swimming, canoeing, hanging out with animals, running, camping, making jewelry, and reading. I’m so excited to see what I can contribute to this program and community! About Peer Helpers:   Peer Helpers are high school students who are voted by their peers to participate in the Peer Helper retreat based on who would be most likely to be helpful, supportive, and knowledgeable when faced with a difficult situation. All peer helpers are passionate about helping and caring for others. They are trained in when to seek additional resources in order to help their peers.
Check out our blog post about the 2015 Peer Helper retreat September 12th-14th: http://www.pacificcountytac.org/blog/peer-helper-retreat-2015 About Pacific County Resiliency Corps: Pacific County Resiliency Corps is a group of 12 AmeriCorps Members who serve a 10.5 month term in various youth-serving organizations in Pacific County in order to help reduce adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and increase resiliency of our community’s youth. Our members perform a variety of services throughout the county including providing healthy activities, educational opportunities, strong interventions, parenting education, financial literacy, family engagement, youth mentoring, tutoring, career exploration, and more. We started our service on September 1st and attended a 3-day training retreat at Ocean Park Retreat Center to get oriented to Pacific County as well as receive training on topics like effective communication, leadership, mandatory reporting, diversity, team development, ACEs, and stress. On September 11th, the team got together for a Day of Service in South County. We did yard work and clean-up for folks in need at Golden Sands Assisted Living as well as five private residences. Our next Day of Service is Saturday, October 24th, and we are currently inquiring about needs in North County and looking for a project. If you have ideas or want to collaborate, please contact me at [email protected]! Want more information about the Pacific County AmeriCorps team? Check out our page on the Pacific County Youth Alliance’s website: http://www.pacificcountyyouth.org/team-americorps.html
1 Comment
10/1/2015 12:41:46 pm
We're excited to have you in our community and as part of our team Alyssa! Thank you! Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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