Fueling Passion for Peer Support
PEER STORY: DEMARKUS CARLISLE
“Supporting others is a passion of mine and I honestly would do it for free because if it’s something you honestly care about and have a fiery passion about, you're not looking at the money.”
MHAAO offers three different types of Peer Support Specialist Certifications under our OPTIC program, one of which focuses on Youth & Young Adult Peer Mentoring. Demarkus is a graduate of our program and has found his passion in the mental health field.
I grew up the youngest out of 4 kids in North Portland. I had a great childhood, just had seen some stuff I didn’t like as a child and always wanted to make a change within my neighborhood.
Growing up on the side of town I grew up in, the youth just needed someone to look up to as a role model.
I wanted to take the Youth & Young Adult Peer Mentor Training through MHAAO because I always wanted to be a mentor to the youth and young adults.
I feel like the youth needed someone to listen to them and find out and assess the problem and what was going on in their lives to be acting up at home, stealing from the stores, acting up in school and ultimately being locked away in juvenile detention.
After finishing up the Youth & Young Adult Peer Mentor Training, I got a job in the mental health field.
I didn’t go to college at all and make $12.00 an hour now. Supporting others is a passion of mine and I honestly would do it for free because if it’s something you honestly care about and have a fiery passion about, you're not looking at the money. And I am currently a part of the “Youth & Young Adult Advisory Committee” as well, with another committee involvement in process too.
Follow your passion and your dreams and never give up because I never would have thought at a young age I would be in the position where I'm at today.
This blog post is directly quoted from an interview with Demarkus Carlisle, PSS on 1/24/2017.