by Jessica Silva
Cassandra Guerrero joined PJALS this fall as part of an internship through EWU’s Social Work program. She is from Moses Lake and moved to Cheney to pursue a higher education where she can make a difference. Cassandra has volunteered at Betz Elementary School where she mentored children at risk. She chose to do her internship at PJALS because she wanted to make a difference at the community level and not just on individualized problem and because she is tired of not acting upon issues that are important to her.
At PJALS Cassandra is excited to be working on the Spokane for All campaign, racial disparities and on ending the death penalty; she is also excited to learn about other issues that are affecting the communities.
Her favorite thing about PJALS is hearing stories from all its members, listening to their insights and other issues they are passionate about. She has never been around so many people who want to make a difference and have the mentality to do so; she loves PJALS very much!
Cassandra feels that after this internship she will be more educated on topics that people don’t feel comfortable speaking about and therefore she will be able to openly talk to people and educate them. She will have more skills and knowledge on how to run and organize events and bring people together to make a difference in the community.
Cassandra will be graduating this June with her Bachelors in Social Work and is hoping to get her masters in the near future. After graduating she is excited to work with the youth and learn from their experience to expand her knowledge and help children at risk.