Peer Counseling Program Focuses on Teens’ Health Issues

At 18, Rainbow Alvarez is just about the same age as many of the young women she counsels in her job as a peer health educator.

“We’re not their teachers; we’re not their mothers,” said Alvarez, one of five part-time workers for REACH LA, an organization trying to improve the lives of urban teenagers. “We’re not there to be judgmental but to listen, share our experiences and knowledge.”

Martha Chono-Helsley, executive director of REACH LA, believes her young health educators are key to the success of one of the organization’s latest initiatives, girls-only workshops.

“It really makes a difference, having a program that is peer-to-peer,” Chono-Helsley said of the workshops aimed at preventing AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, teaching young women about their bodies and empowering them to make choices and to deal with sometimes-difficult relationships.

Four women artists and activists founded REACH (for Realistic Education in Action Coalition to Foster Health) in 1992, to help urban youths tap their creativity to find ways to address health and social issues.

REACH LA received $15,000 from the 2004 Times Holiday Campaign, which raises money for nonprofit groups that assist disadvantaged children and youth in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

In community centers, schools and at its downtown offices, REACH LA offers several programs for teenagers; the girls’ initiative was added in 2000, after organization leaders realized many young women faced special challenges.

During a typical workshop for girls, three of REACH LA’s peer health educators spend a day talking about women’s health issues, facilitating discussions and conducting teen-oriented educational games and “role playing” sessions to help break the ice.

The peer educators then follow up with one-on-one visits or phone calls to their young clients during the six-month program. About 350 young women complete the program each year.

“You bring a lot of yourself to this job,” said Natalie Flamenco, 19, another peer educator, who began volunteering with REACH LA when she was 15. “I really like being able to make a difference in a girl’s life.”

Seated around the table with her, peer educators Denikay Lowmant, 19, and Alba M. Gonzalez, 20, enthusiastically nodded their agreement.

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