Today we’d like to introduce you to Serena Valentine.
Hi Serena, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I am Serena Valentine, Executive Director of CORE Initiative, a Diabetes Peer Educator, patient advocate with Prevent Blindness and a Diabetes Warrior. I received my diabetes diagnosis a little over 18 years ago and it has been a roller coaster ever since. However, I wouldn’t trade my journey for anyone else’s journey. My life’s experiences with my health has led me on a path to helping others who have some of the same challenges that I had/have now.
CORE Initiative was founded on New Year’s Day 2016. We are a health & wellness education nonprofit organization based in Houston, TX. Also, we are an advocate for the education, prevention & treatment of health care issues in the lives of people. One of our most important initiatives within our organization is to share insight about the health issues that affect our communities the most through health education classes and support groups.
I participate and am a part of a global initiative called Cities Changing Diabetes under Novo Nordisk. and am currently on the Cities Changing Diabetes-Houston Core Team. I began volunteering in a few initiatives that were operating & thriving well in Houston, TX. These initiatives include, the Faith & Diabetes Initiative, MyDiabetesHQ & the Houston Diabetes Peer Support Program, of which I am the Project Lead. I had many challenges with my health while trying to help others along in their journeys. Dealing with Diabetic Neuropathy, Diabetic Retinopathy in both eyes leading to blindness/vision loss and a host of other health problems connected to diabetes, this journey has been everything but easy. To keep me going, I had my faith and my son. Being a single mother has its own set of challenges, but being a single mother to a child with special needs presents new challenges and blessings at the same time. I have a 13 yr old son who has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ASD is the technical term for it, but I don’t like to call it a disorder…..it is simply a totally different perspective of the world and everyone in it.
My community work has created a platform for myself so that I could help to guide others into a healthier lifestyle, no matter what stage they are living in now.. Transparency has proven to be the most effective way to provoke and promote change in the lives of people. My faith and hope in God has carried me into success with my own health journey and I absolutely LOVE sharing that with others.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have had many challenges in my life. The most significant ones had been the challenges concerning my health and being a single mother to a special needs child.
As a person living with Type 2 Diabetes for a little over 18 years, having been through no health insurance for 5 years out of the 18, being too sick to earn a living and being blind for 9 months, I would say that things have been really difficult and unbearable at times. The complications from diabetes that I’ve experienced are diabetic (peripheral) neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy in both eyes (resulting in complete blindness in the right eye and low vision in the left eye), Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, some kidney damage(due to diabetes and pregnancy), hypertension and high cholesterol.. I had to make the most important decision in my life……to LIVE! My brother, who is a personal trainer helped me to get started on my exercise/physical activity routine, helped me to begin with movement that were specific to my condition. For example, at that time, there weren’t any high intensity exercises that I could do without the back of my eyes bleeding(due to diabetic retinopathy). Therefore, he created a routine for me so that I could still get some movement in safely. I also paid close attention to the foods that I was eating and took my medications as prescribed……all while facilitating diabetes self management and support classes & diabetes peer support group meetings. I could not stop doing the work that I felt so passionate about, especially since I was actually going through it all at that time. Keeping busy this way, kept my mind occupied and focused on my overall goal……to share as much health education about diabetes as I possibly could to as many people who would hear me out.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In addition to being an Executive Director for CORE Initiative, I also work in several community/public health projects in Houston, TX. Some of them are focused on diabetes, but others are focused on one of the largest health topics out right now…..The pandemic. COVID education and vaccines are about half of what I’m working on right now.
Many ask me “Why health education?” It is very difficult to make well informed decisions about your health without gaining the knowledge and information about the health issue that one is attempting to manage effectively. I believe that what you don’t know can be detrimental to your health as the time passes on. It is best to equip our communities with the information that they need to save their lives and create a better quality of life for themselves.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
My advice to individuals who are starting out in this field of work is to find the passion that drives them first before jumping into a venture like this. NO ONE gets into the nonprofit world and becomes successful by focusing on getting rich quick. If the passion to genuinely help people isn’t there, you will have a hard time convincing your target population/community that your program was created to positively impact their lives. Missions are about the people, NOT projects. It is also important to get to know the target area/population that you will be serving. Get involved in some community work in the neighborhood, even if it is an effort that is unrelated to your effort. When you help other organizations, they likely will not have a problem helping you in your effort as well.
Contact Info:
- Email: COREInitiative@peoplenomix.org
- Website: https://peoplenomix.org/
- Instagram: @corenomix16
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Peoplenomix/
