SEAHEC Collaborates with Pima JTED for Community Health Worker Training Program

This past school year, for the third year in a row SEAHEC is proud to have collaborated with the Pima JTED Community Health Worker (CHW) training program. Our Program Manager, Brenda Sanchez has been working closely with Pima JTED to provide an enriching experience for dedicated students who participated in the CHW training program during their senior year in high school. Dedicating long school days and weekends to learning about the CHW role and working in our Southeast Arizona community. Currently five students are completing their internship hours to earn their volunteer CHW certification this summer. 

Andrea Vazquez, Rachael Dominguez, Layla Moreno, Reyna Duran, Sabrina Gutierrez, Aida Garcia,

Brenda Sanchez, Joyce Wall, Jesus Garcia in Winchester Heights Community Center

Throughout the school year, these students have had the opportunity to participate in events across several locations, including Safford, Douglas, Willcox, Winchester Heights, Nogales, Amado, and Tucson. These experiences have allowed them to engage with diverse communities and gain a broad perspective on community health challenges and solutions.

This summer, students are continuing their hands-on learning through internships with SEAHEC, the University of Arizona Prevention Mobile Health Unit, and the Southside Workers Center. These internships are providing them with practical experience and further enhancing their skills and knowledge in real-world settings.

Through this collaboration, SEAHEC and Pima JTED are fostering the next generation of community health workers, equipping them with the necessary tools and experience to make a meaningful impact in our communities. We are excited to see these students grow and succeed in their careers, and we remain committed to supporting their journey every step of the way.

Sabrina Gutierrez, Mya Nickel, Rachael Dominguez, Brenda Sanchez at the

John Valenzuela Youth Center 30th Anniversary Celebration

Students have shared some of their experiences from this summer thus far: 

“Overall I love having a chance to help people who need it and being that trusted person who can have a chance to make their lives easier. Learning more about SEAHEC and how it provides outreach to so many communities for example Nogales, Douglas, Bisbee, etc. Is inspiring to do more and help educate community members. We are working on a project that I'm excited about and can help me grow more as a person by strengthening my communication. “- Andrea Vazquez

“I hope to take what I learn from my experiences here in this internship into my future schooling and beyond into my career. It will allow me to acclimate to college life better with its busy time schedule and personal accountability as well as in the clinic when I am a doctor, allowing me to understand my patients on a deeper level as well as making me more able to best care for them. That all is still a ways away though so in the meantime, I can’t wait to learn more.” Mya Nickel 

“I’ll always remember this one woman who’s health screening I did. She only spoke Spanish, and could tell that I clearly struggled with the language, but she, too, was very patient, and was simply happy to get her health checked, even taking some moments to teach me how to say the numbers on the results. I typically don’t struggle much with numbers in Spanish, but for some reason I just couldn’t access that part of my brain. She, without a doubt, helped me as much as I helped her, and her words will always encourage me to continue pushing myself so that I can learn, and one day be fluent in Spanish.” Rachael Dominguez

“Something that has stood out while working with the UA MHU, we were playing bingo and we were divided into groups and I got a group of siblings. 4 girls and one boy from the ages 2 to 12 I would say. The oldest sibling was not feeling the best and she was not in the mood to do anything and had her head down. Everyone around her asking her to participate, and sort of pushing her. When she was put into my group she still was the same. I didn't push her to participate, I let her know that I would love for her to participate and she could join whenever she wants. She slowly started participating by saying what group the foods fell into. If it was fruits, veggies, protein, etc. When she would, I would make comments motivating her and complimenting her by saying “Great job” or “I'm proud of you” and I would do the same for all of the siblings. By the end she was the fastest in replying and had a smile on her face. At the end when we were leaving, all the siblings came up to me and hugged me and said bye, which made my whole day, I loved that I made her comfortable and feel safe for her to share. This interaction sticks out especially because the family of siblings seemed to really like having me.” Sabrina Gutierrez 

“In conclusion, so far I have really enjoyed working with these new places and interacting with kids. I personally like working with kids and being able to help them and cheer them up and since in the future I want to be a Pediatric nurse I will be working with kids. I feel like this Internship is going to benefit me a lot in the sense that I am going to be gaining a lot more skills and competencies which I will take with me moving forward.” Layla Moreno 

Rachel Dominguez, Andrea Vazquez, Layla Moreno, Joyce Wall, Brenda Sanchez, Reyna Duran, Sabrina

Gutierrez, Mya Nickel, Sugow Jama at the JTED Community Health Worker Convocation Ceremony