(Guest post by Program Mentor Katie Garduño)
Sometimes in order to be there for other people, we have to be there for ourselves.
This summer the Presencia staff learned how to do that. Six weeks ago, we decided to meet every week at the Presencia apartment and have hour long conversations led by our communications director, Ian. During these talks, we discussed trauma and how our brains work.
Getting together has been amazing not only because we can pass this useful information down to our parents, friends, and the Presencia kids but also because it has helped us build healthy relationships and understand each other more.
At Presencia we learned that love is equivalent to healthy relationships and that’s exactly what we want our kids to feel, love.
Having these weekly sessions have made it possible for us to come up with brilliant ideas that will help the Presencia kids feel safe and connected with us, each other, and themselves.
As the school year gets closer and closer, we prepare to welcome our Presencia kids in a clean and safe environment. This week as we wait for our Presencia families to show up and register, we have also been cleaning, reorganizing, and decorating the Presencia apartment.
We can’t wait to start this school year!
Katie Garduño
Program Mentor
Presencia
