Despite being shuffled around campus, Agora Crisis Center and Students Educating Peers About Sex both have found shelter at the Psychology Clinic, are seeking volunteers and are available to help community members.
The Agora Crisis Center is the oldest crisis center in the country and was started in 1970. Molly Brack, Agora’s professional director, said professors and students established the organization because they were concerned that no crisis intervention services were available in Albuquerque.
She said a male student was depressed and sought help, but when he went to the Student Health Center, he was told he would have to wait two weeks for an appointment. He was referred to a local hospital, but he was turned away because he didn’t have health insurance. He went home that night and shot himself.
“Some people who didn’t even know him were moved by the situation and decided to start Agora,” Brack said.
The students and professors chose to name of the center because in Ancient Greece agora was the marketplace where all people regardless of class were welcome.
“Agora was just that in the beginning because it had a great space on campus and was a three-story area where people could hang and some even spent the night,” she said. “We were housed where financial aid is now, but were moved to the Student Union basement about 10 years ago. When the SUB went under construction, the Psychology Clinic made room for us.”
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Brack said that shortly after Agora was floundering for room, Students Educating Peers About Sex, or SEPAS, was evicted from the Student Health Center. Her organization made room for the newer outreach program, and the two now share close quarters in the Psychology Clinic, which is west of Dane Smith Hall.
UNM student Jeremy Jaramillo helped develop and runs the peer education program. The group members do presentations on campus and in the community about safe sex and also take student phone calls on the subject.
“We provide people with all the information we have and try to help them make educated decisions about sex,” he said.
During most of the spring semester, Jaramillo worked more than 20 hours a week as an unpaid staff member because the organization ran out of money. Despite the problems, Jaramillo said he will stick with the program.
“I really feel that people need to feel comfortable talking about safe sex and receive honest, nonjudgmental information,” he said. “I really think peer education is the only way to do that because it’s the only way people trust who they are listening to, and it comes from a more understanding viewpoint.”
Jaramillo also said that people need to accept responsibility for their community and understand that it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of work to make a difference.
Brack has been affiliated with Agora since she was a graduate student and said the most rewarding part of her job is helping people. Now she wants to get others involved in the program.
“We will be able to accept walk-ins in the fall and take phone calls now,” she said. “People can talk about anything. It really ranges from suicide to a bad day at school. We are here to listen and help as much as we can. All calls are anonymous and anyone in the community can call.”
Volunteers for both programs go through extensive training to prepare them for their jobs. Both also offer support for volunteers because the nature of their work can be intense.
Those interested in volunteering with Agora can pick up applications at the Psychology Clinic any time. Both groups will have volunteer applications available on August 28-29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside of Zimmerman Library. Anyone on campus or in the UNM community is eligible to apply for a volunteer position and training sessions will be offered in September.
Agora Crisis Center can be reached at 277-3013 or by e-mail at agora@unm.edu and SEPAS can be reached at 277-6138 or by e-mail at sepas@unm.edu.
