Addressing social issues is what I live, breathe, eat, and sleep on the daily. I am a change activist who works with a non profit called Barrio Nuevo Phoenix. Here we serve a fairly diverse population. Age five to nearly ninety years old. Native Arizonans to families that have just joined us here in Phoenix. With Barrio Nuevo we spend the majority of our time mentoring the youth ( five to twenty years old) and the elderly (50+). In our time serving our community we 1.)aid in the Arizona hunger crisis by delivering food boxes to families, 2.) feeding the homeless, 3.)Serving a hot meal or snack when we meet for group on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On top of that, we tackle the mental health crisis by creating a safe space for everyone to speak about their emotions and experiences. Barrio Nuevo Phoenix primarily works with low income families and at risk youth from the African American and Latinx community. In the community these children are coming from mental illness is something that’s on the “hush,hush” and often ignored. Once a week Barrio creates a safe space for the children to talk about whatever situation is pulling their tooth if you will every Tuesday night. We also have weekly check ins with the participants from the elderly community via phone call or house visits. This is essential for their longevity as aging, declining health, and lack of family support is an unfortunate common case. I am working to address social change by speaking up for what I believe is right. I spent a few years between the age of 16 and now door knocking, walking in 120 degree weather, and protesting for change in my community. In my time door knocking and protesting I saw and experienced racism. I saw and experienced police brutality/injustice. I saw how the police will still put you in a box with you hands up protesting in peace. My experiences as an activist and community leader drive me to study Behavioral Health Sciences with an emphasis in Juvenile Justice to show people who have had similar experiences to me that there is a way out. I was under the at risk youth radar myself and the freedom to express myself artistically saved my life. I plan to give back by becoming an art therapist. Art is the best way to express your pain and want for change. Dance, drawing, painting, and singing all have the power to cause change. It’s just about finding which one best helps expel the emotion

I chose to study Behavioral Health Sciences because mental and behavioral health is often looked at through a fallacious scope where I grew up. Ignored for lack of a better term, as I have personally experienced this in the black community. Several people from my community in South Phoenix, Arizona suffer from PTSD and/or anxiety as the generational trauma from historical patterns of discrimination, ongoing gun violence, and police brutality is at its' peak. I plan to make a positive impact with my Behavioral Health Science degree by becoming an art therapist for at-risk juvenile youth. In my years as an at-risk youth, therapeutic interventions such as drawing, painting, wring, plus dancing has given me the space to heal without having to verbally express the root of my trauma. My target audience is at-risk youth because as of 2020, more than 60% of our adult prisoners started their troubled paths near the age of 12. My stepfather was one of those people as he began offending in his teen years. He was in and out of juvenile detention, then adult prison until death. He lost his life to gun violence and I feel like the system failed him. In his testimony, he expressed how his time there lacked rehabilitating interventions. In his time out of prison, I gave him lessons on how to write in cursive and we also spent time using artistic outlets such as drawing. In my perspective time focusing on this kept him away from the streets. I know everyone's story is not his but if it was possible to show him, it is possible to teach children how to express their emotions and other life skill now. I still have a hard time understanding why or how the United States, the state of Arizona specifically, has such a strong push for GED programs, art classes, and college programs for adults who will be in prison for the rest of their lives yet very few academic and art programs for our juvenile population. I am currently interning with a community outreach group called Barrio Nuevo where I mentor at-risk youth and the elderly. I can not help but see how what I have studied, learned, and then practiced with Barrio Nuevo impacts the lives of the group for the better. The She Rose in Health Scholarship will help me reach my goals because I plan to put the money towards a study abroad trip in Japan. I am interested in studying abroad throughout my college career to gain more cultural diversity. On this trip, I will have the opportunity to study the Japanese culture of psychology while learning the language. This is extremely important to me because I have an entire community of people from the age of five to nearly 90 years old looking up to me. I want to show the elderly that all their work was for something. I dream of showing children, young black girls specifically, how far believing in themselves, finding a passion, and having positive outlets can take them. Most people never get the chance to leave this place but Japan is a pretty long way from Phoenix if you ask me.

Incarceration is a word that drives my education. Incarceration is a bullet that I have done my best to dodge, however, others in my family have not been so lucky. My stepfather has been in and out of jail since the age of fifteen and lost his life to gun violence in 2012. His experiences in the criminal justice system and recidivism impacts me because I have had to explain to my baby brother why he no longer has a father. It is now my job to paint a picture of who he was outside of the jumpsuit. His incarceration pushes me to want to bring change to the children and teens in my community being that is the time that his troubled path began. Based on my opinion, research on why prisons exist, and the outcome of his life, the system failed him. The system is supposed to be designed to build better citizens, and rehabilitate, however, my stepfather learned nothing while he was there. When I was ten years old I felt the need to take it upon myself to teach my stepfather how to write in cursive, basic math, and many other skills that we learn in our primary academic years. In his time in and out of prison, he told me that he learned "nothing but how to go crazy in a box." The incarceration of this family member in particular has pushed me to show the people in my community that they are not alone. There are other options. This experience drives my ambition to study behavioral health science and juvenile justice so that we all can move forward by changing the narrative. Teaching our children job skills, educational skills, and artistic expression well before they are in prison for life. My goal is to teach at-risk and juvenile youth skills that can be applied to their futures well before the pathway to adult prison is crossed.