My Experience in the Youth and Young Adult Advocacy Program

My name is AuJuleigh Howard, I also go by Leigh. Let me tell you why you should be a part of CHOOSE 180’s advocacy program.

Photo of Izzy (right, CHOOSE 180’s Advocacy Program Coordinator) and Leigh (left)!

I joined CHOOSE 180 about 5 years ago, but I have been advocating since I was about 12, I am 19 now.

CHOOSE 180 advocates for youth and young adults who are or know people who have been impacted by incarceration and keep youth out of the juvenile criminal legal system and the school-to-prison pipeline. 

CHOOSE 180 has been there for me throughout my whole high school journey and helped me deal with a lot of my personal issues. While being in the advocacy program I have learned to better advocate for my community and my peers, able to speak out at events, and speak on new bills that have been passed to help better our communities. The advocacy program is a way to get to know other youth and young adults in different communities apart from King County and learn what they want to advocate about. If you don’t know what you want to advocate for that is completely fine, being in the program will show you that things you didn’t know was a program now you know it is. It’s definitely a learning opportunity for youth and young adults, it’s really fun too. I wanted to be an advocate due to the fact that I was having so many problems at school with being discriminated against and having trouble with my teachers saying I was a behavioral problem. But the whole time they were setting me up for the school-to-prison pipeline. 

It is very important to advocate for change because we are the future. If we want the world to be different, why not be a part of the change? Change starts with us, youth and young adults. I am a long-time participant and former intern in CHOOSE 180's YYA Advocacy Program. They also give you great opportunities. Being a part of the program also brought another great opportunity such as running my own events. 

I really want change around abuse. I am a survivor of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and I am a heavy advocate for abuse prevention. Being abused is not the end of your story. It’s actually a start and as a young black woman in America, it is not really talked about how much abuse goes on in your community. A lot of young women have the mindset of not telling anyone, not protecting you and/or the abuser, scared of being hurt, or something happening to you or the ones you care about. Yes in some cases that is true, but in most cases it isn’t, tell someone and ask for help as soon as you see the signs. It may be hard but if it doesn’t sit right in you, follow that feeling because it is always right. 

Being a part of CHOOSE 180 has been a complete blessing. I greatly appreciate all of CHOOSE 180 staff for coming out and supporting me in my events and being completely supportive in my personal issues. They have been a family I really needed. 

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To learn more about the YYA Advocacy program, visit the webpage.

To support CHOOSE 180’s YYA Advocacy Program, visit our giving page and mention the advocacy program in the “What inspired your gift today?” section.