LLUAHSC - Spring 2002 Newscope

Newscope

School of Nursing professor and students provide retreat for troubled youths

[SCOPE, Spring 2002]

Counselors from the first Operation Jessica pose for a picture, including (back row, from left), Amber Rasmussen, Erin Anderson, David Ayala, Marc Chavez, Julie Hunter, Laila Ingheim, and Wendy Henderson, (middle row) Bernadine Irwin, Rachelle Bennie, an unidentified Catalina island staff member, Kimberly Follett, and Kathy Do, (front row) Alvin Rosete, Lindy Renck, Elise Snyder, and Jonathan Henderson.

It began with a tragedy. Jessica Salazar, a young girl who had just turned 14, was murdered in nearby Colton. She liked to write and had plans to go to college.

She once wrote, “Everyone is killing each other, not knowing all the pain and hurt they are going to make or all the souls they are going to take, just to prove they are tough. I don’t know about you, but I have had enough. They are taking innocent lives. It could be your brothers, sisters, wives, or maybe even you.” She wanted to work with at-risk youths.

Six months before her death, Jessica had met Bernadine Irwin, PhD, RN, associate professor, School of Nursing, who was working as a counselor at the Youth Justice Center in San Bernardino. The Center provides schooling and counseling for juveniles on probation.

Dr. Irwin was deeply affected by Jessica’s death. “I recognized how much Jessica had to give, and what she could achieve with the talents she had,” notes Dr. Irwin.

She had been counseling troubled youth for more than 10 years, and she had never seen a group of students or herself become so affected by someone.
“Because of what happened to Jessica, I became in touch with the fact that I really loved these kids and more needed to be done for them,” says Dr. Irwin.

She wanted to offer a spiritual program to the youth at the center. In addition, Dr. Irwin wanted to document changes that the youth went through during the classes.

Based on this tragedy, Dr. Irwin wrote a book, For the Love of Jessica: the story of gang kids guided from tragedy to triumph (Millennia Publishing Company).

Following her book, Dr. Irwin dreamed of organizing an outlet for troubled youth to receive healing from their past.

It wasn’t until Brent Martini, president of AmerisourceBergen Drug Company, read her book and decided to help, that Dr. Irwin’s dream would become a reality.

Mr. Martini wanted to assist gang members and potential gang members in overcoming their challenges and healing their troubled past. Through his generosity, he funded the entire Operation Jessica.

A teenager from the Youth Justice Center, San Bernardino, participates in the ropes course program on Catalina Island.

Operation Jessica is designed to be a transformational, spiritual experience within the framework of nature for at-risk youth. The program, named in memory of Jessica Salazar, invites disturbed teens to nature retreats where they can be free from the constraints of the past and empowered to move above and beyond as they develop new possibilities for themselves.

Operation Jessica is supported by the School of Nursing. Students are given the opportunity to assist Dr. Irwin with the retreat programs.

The first Operation Jessica program was held last fall in a private cove on Catalina Island. Fifteen at-risk youth, ages 14 to 17, from the Youth Justice Center and from Knotts group home for teen moms in San Bernardino, were chosen for the first Operation Jessica.

The nursing students each led out in “Above and Beyond” sessions. These sessions taught the youth how to move beyond the wounds of the past, and how to develop goals and plans for the future to be different.

Each youth received a trophy and a copy of Dr. Irwin’s book during the retreat to celebrate a new beginning.

During the final meeting, Dr. Irwin invited the youth to accept a personal friendship with God. All but one of the youths raised their hands.

Another Operation Jessica program was planned for later this spring, with three additional Operation Jessica’s in the works for this year. “The whole experience has deepened my love for these kids as well as my commitment to them,” says Dr. Irwin.

[SCOPE, Spring 2002]