By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Families and peers came together earlier this month for Teen Empowerment, a community event to bring awareness towards the struggles and issues teenagers are having in this day and age.
This event, held Feb. 5, brought together local supporters and provided access to resources for Del Rio’s youth to transition into adulthood. It was also held in conjunction with February being Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.
Teen Empowerment was a collaboration between organizations including BCFS Health and Human Services, the Tri-National Health Council and the Community Health Improvement Coalition to bring support for teenagers. Representing the Texas Advocacy Project, Samantha Lopez started this event with her mother Claudia Lopez by contacting businesses and school groups to set up booths in front of the Val Verde County Courthouse. Lopez said the event was the first of its kind in the Del Rio community to highlight Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.
“Our main focus was to bring awareness of teen dating violence,” Lopez said. “There’s is a lot of survivors, including myself, that have kept secrets that could be frowned upon and this event is to help people who have gone through struggles and to help them be understood.”
Lopez said more than 100 people responded to the event posting on Facebook, resulting in a huge turnout. Organizations including Work Force Solutions, the United States Army and Bad Company Motorcycle Club promoted friendly job opportunities and community activities for people to learn about and join. Students and various supporters arrived to the event wearing all orange, the primary color to honor awareness for abusive violence.
The evening began with an opening ceremony inviting guest speakers from the community to share their words of wisdom. From police officers to survivors of abusive relationships, members of the community shared their experiences and beliefs for teenagers to use and apply in their own lives. Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez was invited to express the importance of mental health,
“If there is anything today’s youth should take away from this event is that there is help out there, and don’t be ashamed to reach out for those resources if you need to,” Martinez said.
To end the ceremony, members of the community joined Lopez and her family for the Walk of Warriors, a lap around the courthouse that was meant to represent empowerment. Lopez said the idea behind the walk was to bring empowerment to those who struggled with abuse. The entire event lasted until 7:30 p.m. with dance performances from the Queen City Belles and music and giveaways from the booths that attended.
