PYD Coordinator
PRDOH MCAH Division
San Juan
Bessie R. Lopez has always worked with Adolescent Health. During his Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology, she worked providing services to LGBTQ youth. She coordinated an Alcohol Prevention Project. As the Chlamydia Prevention coordinator at the STD/HIV Prevention Program in the Department of Health, she had the chance to advocate for young women reproductive health on Region II meetings and educate professionals in how to help youngsters to prevent STDs. Today she works in the MCAH as the Positive Youth Development coordinator and the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) facilitator.
As the members of the YAC described themselves: “Our PR Youth Advisory Council was created by the Mother, Child and Adolescent Health Program of the Puerto Rico (PR) Health Department. We are a Council of 24 advisors between the ages of 14 and 21 that represents the Puerto Rican youth. Our purpose is to become an accessible source of trustable information that impacts and benefits adolescents, therefore creating a healthy and wholesome atmosphere. In order to achieve this, we meet once a month to discuss issues concerning our community and plan our activities according to them. Since its begining in 2016,, we have focused on the subject of education and the distribution of informative and preventive health material. For these activities we have educated and prepared ourselves through workshops offered by professionals of the Health Department. Some of the most distinguished activities we have participated in are: Zika awareness activity, HIV press conference, and wellness visit, statistical analysis for sexual assault prevention, LGBTQ and family inclusion committee. We have collaborated with AMCHP in 2017 and 2018, to educate others in how to engage youth in the conference and webinars. Every activity places us one step closer to achieve our vision to succeed as a leader council.”
Sunday, March 10
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Monday, March 11
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM