Latest news with #YSC
WebMD
20-05-2025
- Health
- WebMD
Project 528, Part 4: The Community I Almost Missed
At the time of my diagnosis, it was hard to imagine that anyone my age understood what I was going through. While I was aware that support groups existed, I didn't believe that they existed for people like me. How many other women in their early 20s could possibly have breast cancer? No, this was a disease that primarily affected White women over the age of 50. I didn't embrace the power of online communities until after completing active treatment, and when I finally did, I realized that my preconceived notions about breast cancer were wrong. Young Survival Coalition (YSC) was the first online community that made me feel at home within the breast cancer space. As I was preparing to attend my first YSC Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2023, I joined their online Facebook group to connect with other attendees before the event. This was my first time being in a (virtual) room full of other young survivors – many in their 20s, like me. I read their stories and realized that I wasn't alone in this journey. The feeling of connection only grew when I met many of my new virtual friends in real life. The initial reluctance I had about joining an online community was replaced with a sense of empowerment, as I connected with others who made me feel seen and understood. I was able to skip the usual shock I received from others who couldn't imagine being a young adult impacted by breast cancer. Instead, I found myself in a space full of individuals who had experienced the same challenges. The connection and understanding I felt were unlike anything I had ever known, and for the first time, I felt like I could truly make sense of my diagnosis. This experience isn't unique to me. According to the Project 528 data, 40% of younger breast cancer patients reported using online resources for support. For many of us, it wasn't just about finding information – it was about emotional support, raising awareness, and fueling advocacy efforts. The research also shows that these communities help patients feel more informed about their condition and confident in their treatment decisions. This underscores the value of advocacy and how sharing our stories as survivors can help others who are newly navigating a diagnosis. While finding resources in these communities is invaluable, the survey also revealed some potential drawbacks of online engagement. Two prevalent concerns were the overwhelming volume of information available and doubts about the reliability of the information shared in these spaces. I've definitely come across my fair share of posts that have left me with more questions than answers. As I always heard growing up, 'You can't believe everything you read online.' This isn't to say that someone else's experience isn't valid, but it's just that – someone else's experience. Having access to information is crucial, but the survey highlights a need for moderated, evidence-based online resources specifically tailored to young breast cancer survivors. Despite my initial reluctance about online communities, I'm so glad I found a space I can trust through YSC. It's been a place where I've felt truly supported and empowered, from fun monthly virtual hangouts and always-bustling Facebook groups, to in-person conferences where I've been able to connect with hundreds of other young survivors. I've found a community that not only supports me but also allows me to give back and support others through my work here. As we continue to reshape the narrative for young breast cancer survivors, I'm excited to see how the Project 528 data will help guide future support systems. Writing these four blogs has given me the opportunity to reflect on my own journey and how far I've come. It's been a privilege to share my story, and I hope that through these posts, more young survivors will feel encouraged to find their own voice and community and realize they are not alone. All opinions are my own and don't represent the Young Survival Coalition (YSC)'s Project 528.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
As lawmakers debate banning shower cameras in children's lockups, Bernalillo County removes theirs
Christopher Herrera speaks about his experience in the juvenile legal system during a gathering in the New Mexico Legislature on Feb. 24, 2025. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) When Christopher Herrera was 15, he was incarcerated in the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center, a juvenile detention center in Albuquerque that holds young people aged 12 to 17 from across the state. Every time Herrera received a visit from anyone like his mother or his lawyer, and any time he left to see a doctor, the guards afterward forced him to strip naked and searched him, even though he had been in handcuffs and in two guards' direct line of sight the entire time. In an interview with Source NM on Wednesday, Herrera described the strip searches' emotional and psychological toll. 'In my head, it was really weird, it messed me up as a person even to this day,' he said. 'It made me feel really uncomfortable. It wasn't private or nothing like that. You would even hear staff sometimes making jokes.' Herrera said he was held at YSC for 10 months. What he and other young people held there didn't know was that the county had installed cameras in the bathrooms, where the children shower. Herrera said he only learned about the cameras in February because of discussions around Senate Bill 322, which would regulate strip searches in juvenile detention facilities, and ban cameras from their shower and toilet areas. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously passed SB322 on March 3. It awaits a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sponsor Sen. Linda Lopez (D-Albuquerque) told the committee she and others toured YSC last summer and learned of the strip searches and discovered the cameras in the shower area. 'They're recorded. What happens with that recording? Who's watching? If that recording is stored, well, who goes back to look at it?' she asked the committee. In a written statement to Source NM on Friday, Youth Services Center Director Tamera Marcantel said detention center officials disabled the cameras' video capabilities on May 15, 2024. On Friday, she said, a purchase order to remove them was approved and 'the deactivated cameras will be taken down.' YSC 'is committed to serving public safety by providing a safe and secure environment for all residents and staff,' she added. Deputy County Manager of Public Safety Greg Perez told Source NM in a written statement that he discussed removing the cameras in the showers with some of the incarcerated children's mothers. 'Based on those conversations, as well as operational changes within the facility, increased staffing, and remodeling, the decision was made to remove the cameras,' Perez said. Kristen Ferguson, a spokesperson for the Bernalillo County Public Safety Division that runs the YSC, did not answer Source NM's other questions about the county government's position on SB322. But even with the cameras removed, a future detention center administrator could reinstall them, Rodrigo Rodriguez, director of Community Organizing at La Plazita Institute, told Source NM on Friday. Rodriguez did not join the tour of YSC but has testified in support of SB322 in committee. When Source NM informed him the county is removing the cameras, he said, 'That's great news and pretty convenient timing.' 'Thus the need for legislation to ban the practice altogether,' he said. As for the strip searches, SB322 doesn't ban them, New Day Youth and Family Services Chief Program Officer Gerri Bachicha said, but requires the detention center administrator to sign off on each one, and for staff to document when they occur. She said the bill would raise the standard for conducting strip searches in juvenile detention from reasonable suspicion to probable cause, which would prevent arbitrary and unjustified searches, reducing the risk of violating children's constitutional due process protections in the Fourth Amendment. It would also enhance trust between young people and staff, which makes young people more likely to engage in rehabilitative programming, she said. In the March 3 committee hearing, Lopez cited YSC data showing nearly 700 strip searches were conducted between June and October 2024. Bachicha, Lopez's expert, also detailed to the committee the results of those searches: guards found no contraband in July, two pens and a pencil in August, a handwritten note in September, and a pen in October. Those items can usually be found through a pat search, she said, but an arbitrary, blanket policy defaults to a strip search, rather than starting with a pat search. Indeed, Herrera told Source NM, contraband didn't necessarily mean drugs. 'Contraband — to them — is us having pencils or coloring books or an extra book in our cell.' Now as a 21-year-old adult having regained his freedom, Herrera said he regularly takes drug tests and is desensitized to urinating in front of another person. Herrera said it made him feel less valued as a person knowing that there may be footage of him being strip searched. 'We never knew this, they didn't tell us none of this,' Herrera said. 'At the time, we were all kids. Everyone in there was under the age of 18. We would try to make jokes out of this, try to convince ourselves that it was normal, what we were going through.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
