October is somehow almost over and AHO had a big week! At the weekly Youth Leadership Team meeting, we continued discussing the ways, we as a Team, will work within Juvenile Justice (JJ). This week, we worked on the introduction and outline for what we will present to the JJ youth. James emphasized that getting a good outline for our upcoming meeting with Marin Drug Court and Recovery Coach leaders was important. They need to know exactly what to expect from us when we do our presentations to get their support.

We also discussed more about what we would say when telling our own stories, making sure that we are not oversharing, or accidentally triggering the youth with what we share. It will be important too to let youth know that we were in similar situations to their own and have personal experience with what they are going through. These presentations will be a delicate balance, but I am sure we will be able to navigate this challenge with professionalism.

Zara and I also had a meeting with County Community (CC) school’s Student Support Specialist Kathleen, who was very kind and welcoming. We learned more about the students at CC and shared what AHO, as a nonprofit agency specializing in supporting at-risk youth, can offer in terms of resources for CC youth who might need assistance.

We had a fantastic meeting with Kathleen! Our talks led to the next steps of presenting to the CC school staff about what AHO can offer. We also discussed the opportunity of becoming a more regular presence at the school by coming in once a month during the school lunch hour for students on a regular basis to connect with students who might need our support. We are excited to be able to grow this relationship and hope that we can reach more schools like this in the future. This is only step one in our goal of reaching more youth in need in Marin’s schools!

Cheers to more help for Marin youth in need,
Kayla