I learned about Girls With Guts shortly after I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of 23, when I began to scour the web for resources and organizations that could help me learn more about the overwhelming and confusing diagnosis. Though there were many foundations and organizations that came up in my exhaustive search, Girls With Guts was the only one that combined clear and easy-to-understand information and resources with support, community, kindness, and compassion. It felt like a hug.
I chose to volunteer with Girls With Guts because I’m immensely passionate about the work that they do, and because I’ve felt the value of this work first-hand. Beyond being physically brutal, IBD can be incredibly emotionally and psychologically isolating and painful. It’s easy to feel alone when dealing with an illness that is both difficult for outsiders to understand and isn’t really socially acceptable to discuss or share about. Unfortunately, in our world there exists a norm in which it is taboo to share about tummy troubles, despite them being just another form of health challenges. Girls With Guts works to break down that stigma and to empower women with IBD/ostomies by building a community of sisterhood, self-love, and acceptance, and creating a world in which no woman feels alone in her struggle.
In my other time, I work as Communications and Operations Associate at The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the representative body for 50 national Jewish organizations and, amongst many other roles, works to fight antisemitism, set policy, advocate on vital national and international issues, and fights terrorism. I also volunteer as a Crisis Counselor for Crisis Text Line, a 24/7 crisis and suicide hotline. I am pursuing my degree to become a licensed clinical therapist and ultimately hope to spend my life in that role, as I have a great passion for mental health and for connecting deeply and intimately with others. During my free time, I love nature (hiking, running, the beach, and so on), spending time with my adorable dog and working on his Instagram (@boazthegoldendude), writing, and dancing, a passion I’ve had since I was a young child.
