Cultivating Young Women Leaders in Northern CA

Women’s Health Specialists of Redding California continue to work with our young women in our communities to spread the power of peer education. Reproductive health knowledge and life skills young women continue to need for building self-confidence and honing leadership abilities through their peer-based leadership program. Our past graduates have taken the lead with the support of Women’s Health Specialist to continue this education with their peers, friends, schools, education sessions, and community events.

Young women 14-19 still receive 50% or less reproductive health services and education. With the Young women’s Leaders Training, this number will continue to decrease when these young women stretch their circle of knowledge and power.

One of our graduates now in the position Volunteer/Intern at WHS Redding Clinic. Asha, is a very powerful, informed advocate for young women in our community. With her circle of peers, they are sharing the services for reproductive health care. Bringing in young women for tours of the clinic and meeting the staff. Helping to remove barriers for young women seeking services. Asha has also gone thru our HIV/AIDS Education Training Session and now is a peer educator in this area of reproductive health. This young women is 15 years old, and with WHS on-going support she will make a huge difference in our community and beyond.

Women’s Health Specialist is working onhaving another Young Women’s Leadership Training in the fall, with our past grads taking the lead in choosing the next 10 women. These grads will help to create training manual, and work as co-educators.

These young women will continue to provide positive word-of-mouth information to their friends, peers, and family creating a trusted referral network while continuing to build leaders trained in Reproductive Health Education.

With on-going support these awesome young women will continue to educate, empower, and support a positive future in the field of reproductive health care for all women.

Wonderful News!

Women's Health Specialists has partnered with the Institute of Technology to empower its graduating students on removing barriers to health care and providing client centered health care in Shasta County and beyond.

Women' s Health Specialists is a woman-controlled, nonprofit that provides a range of services including comprehensive reproductive health services for women and men in Northern California. For over thirty years, WHS has empowered community members through education, self-help and clinical services so that they can make the best health care decisions for themselves.

Institue of Technology located in Redding California as part of their  mission ,is to  empower their students to embark in the health care field and their choosen  careers. The careers that IT offers are as follows:

• Emergency Medical Technician
• Medical Billing and Office Administration
• Pharmacy Technician
• Professional Medical Assistant
• Vocational Nursing                                                   

Two times a year each graduating class with an average of 28 students each,recevies a WHS education session. The staff at Institute of Technology have requested an education sessions on removing barriers in all areas of health care careers. No matter what career a student chooses, they have the knowledge and information to to make our health care system more client centered, informed, and help remove some of the barriers to receiving health care. In each of session Women's Health Specialists staff  covers:

• What does it mean to be client centered?
• Compassionate, Nonjudgmental, Confidentiality
• What are the barriers to receiving health care?
• Cultural Competency
• Education and Empowering Self and Community                                                 

Students are asked why they chose the field in health care and how tthey plan on making positive changes for the future.Group discussions, inter-active activity and role plays are part of the education sessions. With the tools that Women's Health Specialists have shared with them, 56 students are educated  to continue on the positive road to success and empowerment for themselves and their community.