My First Experience with Deep Canvassing
Finding Birth Control that Works For You: Katie’s Story
With so many options for birth control, it can be overwhelming to decide which one is right for you. After trying one method, Katie C. began to experience negative effects. However, with the help of compassionate medical providers, she was able to open up to her clinician when she realized her birth control wasn’t working for her. Her clinician provided support and helped her find a better option.
Patient Advocacy: Robert's Story
Robert was introduced to Planned Parenthood’s services by his daughter. In high school, she had a few friends who went to the Planned Parenthood health center to receive life-saving healthcare.
He appreciates the fact that Planned Parenthood staff are not there to make judgements. Rather, they are there to provide care and help you make the best decision for you.
Patient Story: Gwen W.
Planned Parenthood’s education and care led patient Gwen W. from feeling ashamed and lost, to being an informed and liberated sexual and reproductive rights advocate. Now, she is a sexuality and spirituality consultant and is able to empower others, just as the Planned Parenthood clinicians empowered her.
Recent Happenings with Period Equity
Most people have had an uncomfortable conversation or two about periods due to the topic's stigma in today’s world, despite how common and normal having a menstrual cycle is. As a person in high school, I have felt shame from my peers after dropping a pad on the floor on my way to the bathroom, which I think no one should have to go through. While we find other sanitary necessities to be free to those who need them, period products are overlooked as a thing that more than half the global population needs due to their controversy. Periods have been considered taboo in most countries for far too long, which is why we should celebrate new happenings in the world of better access to free period products.
Importance of Self Care
We hear this term a lot, but it’s not always clear what it means. Is it bubble baths? Face masks? Meditating? To be honest, it can be all of those things and more! Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our physical, emotional, social, and spiritual health. With all of the stress of the election, it’s important to reflect on what it is that makes you feel comfortable and happy-and then to actually do those things. We all have busy schedules, but we can spare a few minutes for ourselves every now and then.
What Transgender Awareness Week Means to Me
Volunteering at Planned Parenthood has helped me find accepting communities that I want to be around, and who want me around. In the short time I’ve been volunteering there, I’ve made so many good friends who’ve helped me with a lot of issues that I have with accepting myself. They’re like part of a new family for me – one that will love and accept me for who I am, no matter what that means.
Let's Talk With Our Teen Volunteers
October is Let’s Talk Month, which is all about the importance of parents talking to their kids about sex, sexuality, gender, and relationships. Open, honest communication helps young people be safer and more informed, and have less shame around sex. To highlight the different ways kids and teens learn about sex, I talked to PPMEAF’s youth group, who are volunteers between the ages of 13-21. The teens interviewed in this piece are all around 15 years old and have used aliases for their own privacy.
Intern Story: Working at Planned Parenthood in a tumultuous time
We are living in such a critical moment in this country’s political history and leading the fight for reproductive rights has been an extraordinary opportunity.