Andrea (she/her) is a participant in Young Women Empowered (Y-WE). This organization offers programs for teens ages 13-19 in the Greater Seattle area. All programs are free to attend and center young women, trans, non-binary, and gender expansive youth. They explore topics across the core themes of belonging, wellness, and thriving.
Programs such as Y-WE are good examples of the value of education and community support for youth behavioral health, as is illustrated in Andrea’s responses to key questions related to well-being and the value of programs that build community and are inclusive of people from diverse races and genders.
Responses have been modified for length. More from Andrea can be read in Y-WE’s 2024 Annual Report.
What does healing mean to you?
Andrea: I don’t think healing has to be, ‘I’m completely fixed.’ I think healing is taking care of yourself, talking to people who are like-minded and have similar interests. Keeping yourself social and doing things that make you happy and just being – nourishing every aspect of yourself.
At the end of the day, we all have traumas, we all experience different things in life. We come from different walks of life, but if you’re going to therapy or just tackling things one day at a time, you’re healing.
Have you had experiences at Y-WE that felt really healing?
[Members of the Y-WE community] all feel comfortable enough to share things with each other. So much of it was around taking care of each other and taking care of ourselves while trying to take care of our communities. If no one’s taking care of us – if we’re not taking care of ourselves, we can’t take care of other things. […] I’ve experienced vulnerability and group healing where, after a program, a bunch of us would just come together and be like, ‘I had no idea how much I needed that.’
Is there anything else you want to say about this theme of healing in community?
It’s just really healing in and of itself to have these resources available and everything being free.
I had always wanted to be in the outdoor environment and go be outdoorsy and do stuff. But there’s financial barriers and there’s social barriers. I don’t feel like I belong out there because when I go outside to a trail it’s always some skinny white girl jogging. I don’t see myself or represented in the outdoors. Y-WE changed that completely and pivoted my mindset. The fact that Y-WE [program Nature Connections] gets youth out there and gives us the opportunity to do stuff that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to do is really empowering and healing.
