LGBTQ youth

Q-Spot Youth Speaks Up For Homeless Youth

Neighborhood News/ Top News!

Q-Spot Youth Speaks Up For Homeless Youth

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A presentation about homeless LGBT Youth was held on at the Q-Spot on Wednesday, March 29th in Sacramento. The presentation was put on by youth working at the center. They went over facts about homeless youth in Sacramento as well as other parts of the United States. After the slide show they opened it up to the audience to ask questions about the information that was presented.

During the presentation, Maya, one of the young people putting on the presentation, talked about the troubles homeless youth face in Sacramento.

“There (has) been quite a few road blocks in Sacramento (to help homelessness), including the 2016 anti-camping ordinance, that continues to allied to the arrest of homeless folks,” said Maya. “This law allows for rampant discrimination. In a general synopsis it’s basically ‘you can’t have your belongings on the ground next to you, and if you do, a police officer is allowed to tell you to move, or to arrest you’, and these laws are wildly discriminatory to the undocumented, and the homeless.”  

The Q-Spot also provides care packages for the homeless people who visit the center. The packages contain toothbrushes, soap, sunscreen, water bottles, and other necessities that a homeless person may not have. The packages are  distributed to homeless in the Sacramento area.

Pamphlets handed out at the Q-Spot before the presentation.

“The Q-Spot is open everyday from 12 to 6 for LGBT and allied youth 13 to 23,” said Jessie, a youth program coordinator at the Q-Spot. “We have resources like showers, washers, and dryers; resources like hygiene supplies and warming supplies. We have different support groups that meet throughout the week. Every first Monday of the month is youth with disabilities, Wednesday is 13 to 17, Thursday is youth of color, and Friday is 18-23.”

The presentation lasted about one hour, and closed with questions from the audience. Many of the audience members who spoke up had other organizations to help the LGBT community, or to help the homeless. If you’d like to find out more about their organization, click here to go to their website.

In Progress/ Neighborhood News/ NNC Stories/ Sacramento City Unifed School District

LGBTQA Youth Leadership Conference Coming Up

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It’s that time of year again! SCUSD is holding their Annual LGBTQA Youth Leadership Conference.

SCUSD is  holding this event  on May 21st, 10am to 4pm at the Met Sacramento High School at 810 V Street.

This year’s 5tFullSizeRender (2)h annual LGBTQA Youth Leadership Conference theme is “Be Brave, Be You.”

The conference will include workshops for any youth in the SCUSD school system from K-12th grade to teach them how to embrace themselves, be comfortable in their own skin, and learn how to treat and help other students, with an emphasis on students who identify as LGBTQA.

“I attended the conference they had (before) and met a lot of new people from different schools,” says Alina Reid, a student in John F. Kennedy High School Rainbow Alliance Club. “I think their e workshops really teach and help students of LGBTQ background to learn more about themselves and to prosper on for their rest of their lives.”

The event is free and has been planned by the youth, for the youth. The workshops will be interactive and fun for all ages and will also include pizza and drinks for the attendees of the conference. The event does not include transportation; students must provide themselves with transportation to and from event.

The event requires a permission slip for students interested in attending this year’s youth leadership conference and can be found right here. The permission slip must be emailed to Emily Herr, coordinator of the conference at: emily-herr@scusd.edu.

It’s time to empower yourself and “Be Brave, Be You”!

 

Introducing Ronnie Swinburn, Neighborhood News Correspondent

Neighborhood News/ NNC Stories/ Top News!/ Voices From Our Streets

Introducing Ronnie Swinburn, Neighborhood News Correspondent

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Article published on my program coordinator, describing what the Pride Action Team is and what we do.

       Hi, my name is Ronnie Swinburn, and most people within my community know me as a public spokesperson who speaks on empathetic activism and personal justice for the local LGBTQ+ Community. I am also a proud member of the Sacramento’s Building Healthy Communities Pride Action Team where we empower others to establish safe and affirming environments for youth who identify along the LGBTQ+ spectrum, those who are perceived to be, and adolescents who support LGBTQ+ youth in general through outreach, training’s also local events. I mention all these charitable aspects of my life because what most people don’t know is the reasons why I do what I do for my city and the youth within it.

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A youth and I volunteering to create a welcome sign for all BHC sites attending a three day Queer and Transgender Youth Leadership Summit funded through T.C.E. [The California Endowment].

    While growing up in South Sacramento I have encountered various tribulations in which a lot of these situations I have either felt completely “on my own” or “alone” while also enduring external and internal personalized conflicts. Throughout my early adolescent years I did not believe, nor couldn’t possibly imagine believing, in my self and my moral rights enough to make my intuitive voice establish a real significant change towards any of the oppressors I was facing. That and the fact I had absolutely no knowledge in regards to the many community collaborations of authoritative figures in our city who aid, teach, mentor, encourage, and help to expand individual self potentials for the youth within this region that have survived through life altering hardships, such as myself.

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A personal article on how I am “creating compassion” for my community.

   My junior year of high-school was when my current involvement with my societal environment began. It was the peak of finding out who I genuinely aspire to be also what I would truly want to see happening around me for my community and those within it. Over the last three years I’ve spoke at numerous schools, a few business conventions, at the Capitol twice testifying on behalf of legislation bill AB827, even had an interview with a Sacramento News and Review journalist in regards to acknowledging my efforts. I have been blessed with sharing my individual story of what it was like and is continuing to be like growing into the person I am due to the past I have evolved from. Since being provided with amazing opportunities through organizations like Mental Health America of Northern California, the California Endowment, Equality California, the Sacramento’s Building Healthy Communities Hub and now AccessLocal.Tv; I realize how doing exactly just this, expressing myself and my perspectives on the community I was raised in, is important for my own self healing. Also I am able to expose to others who don’t know what the true extents of oppression are, how showing minor compassionate understanding can improve our society as a whole by uplifting the vital issues from the voices of my generation and younger generations to come.

LGBTQ Focus Group looking for South Sac Youth

Neighborhood News/ Top News!

LGBTQ Focus Group looking for South Sac Youth

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lgbtqOn Thursday, December 17th, from 5-7pm, Nor Cal Mental Health America will host an LGBTQ+ Youth Focus Group. They will be looking for  youth who are: LGBTQ+ identified, between the ages of 13-21 years, and live, go to school or work in the areas of Lemon Hill, Stockton Blvd, and Oak Park. The exact location of the meeting will be given once participants have registered but will be in the area of Hiram Johnson High School. All youth participants will receive a $25 gift card and will be provided with dinner as well.

The focus group is being held to determine what issues are effecting this particular community, the youth involved in it, and possible solutions that can be formed. LGBT youth seem to face many struggles and this focus group will work to combat them.

To register and attend the event contact Emily Bender at 530-366-1777 by phone, or ebender@norcalmha.org

Eliminating Ignorance: The LGBTQ Disparities Project

Neighborhood News

Eliminating Ignorance: The LGBTQ Disparities Project

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In many communities identifying as anything other than heterosexual and cisgender is cause for ostracism and prejudice. For many LGBTQ identified people isolation and silence are the only ways to get through those situations.

“The worst part was the fear,” says Alex C., a transgender youth. “Feeling so completely alone with no one else to turn to. I tried to get used to it – to the idea that my body was messed up. I only felt worse. Depression. Anxiety. Suicidal thoughts. When you’re trapped like that, you don’t feel like yourself. You don’t feel like anyone. No dreams, no future, and a past you can barely remember. You detach from yourself. It’s no longer your own life that you’re living.”

In 2012, the Equality California Institute and the Mental Health America of North California partnered to create a report on the LGBTQ community. Titled First, Do No Harm: Reducing Disparities for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning Populations in California the report contains background history on the LGBTQ community, current problems, and recommendations for those problems.
These recommendations will help organizations make effective decisions on helping the LGBTQ community.

2-years of community based research was used to create this report. The research was used to pinpoint areas that community members felt needed to be changed.

The organizations recently published three fact sheets that breakdown the report into easy-to-read infographflagics:

1. Improving LGBTQ Student Mental Health

“When a child is shunned or bullied by their peers for other reasons… the solution has not been to ask the child to change, but to find interventions which remedy the social oppression,” states the fact sheet.

This fact sheet has extensive information and statistics on youth who identify as LGBTQ. It also states information on transgender youth and their mental health issues. The fact sheet has information on recommendations for improving student mental health outlined in the original report.

2. Suicide Prevention For LGBTQ Communities

This fact sheet focuses on suicide rates and suicide prevention among all age groups in the LGBTQ community. This fact sheet also has links to websites with information on the intersection of racial identities and sexual orientation.

3. Stigma and Discrimination Reduction

This fact sheet tackles information on the LGBTQ community and mental health stigma within different ethnic communities.

The recommendations in this report range from the standardization of sexual orientation and gender identities, to creating safe spaces for LGBTQ people. This report will help smaller organizations to receive government funding for their programs.

 

LGBTQ Awareness Training Opens Doors for Informative Interaction

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LGBTQ Awareness Training Opens Doors for Informative Interaction

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The 20th century brought America legal acceptance and equality for races and genders that had suffered from social Youth1stigma for centuries.  Now, the movement for LGBTQ acceptance and understanding has swept across America.  Mental Health America is one organization that hopes, in part, to aid the public through the provision of support and information for and about LGBTQ persons.  Their upcoming LGBTQ awareness training will be “a fun, highly interactive and safe environment for adressing… everything you always wanted to know about LGBTQ but were afraid to ask.” (Mental Health America of Northern California)

According to hrc.org, 42% of LGBTQ youth say their community is not accepting of LGBTQ people, and 92% of LGBTQ youth hear negative messages about being LGBTQ.  Mental Health America of Northern California provides information vital to understanding the LGBTQ orientation.

20120409124727“Mental Health America of Northern California (MHANCA) is dedicated to improving the lives of residents in the diverse communities of Northern California,” says Nicole Scanlan, LGBTQ Project Coordinator. “We provide peer services that foster recovery, reduce stigma and discrimination, and improve cultural competency through self-help, education, and culturally relevant research.  We do not ask participants to change their belief or value systems, but rather to be open to the possibility that one can provide a safe and affirming environment to LGBTQ youth regardless of belief or value system. ”

The upcoming training will be held at the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office Florin Center Community Room, on May 16th, from 9:30 am to 3 o’clock pm.  Those who work with (LGBTQ) youth, including organizations, providers, and community members, are especially encouraged to attend.  All questions and concerns will be addressed, along with information intended to help participants understand the importance of myths, misconceptions, and welcoming environments for LGBTQ youth.

“For participants who may feel nervous about attending, please know we do everything we can to create a safe and welcoming environment,” Scanlan adds. “No question, comment or concern will be ignored.” 

The training will be held by Poshi Mikalson, MSW, with hopes of reducing stigma toward LGBTQ youth.  Light refreshments will be provided.

Anyone interested in attending must register with Ms. Scanlan at nscanlan@mhanca.org.  For questions or special accommodations, call (916) 747.0210.  Or, to learn more about Mental Health of America, click here.

Sacramento Youth Pride Coalition Seeks New Members

Neighborhood News

Sacramento Youth Pride Coalition Seeks New Members

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Sac Youth Pride Council
The Sacramento Youth Pride Coalition (SYPC) will have its first meeting on Thursday, October 10th at 5pm at the Stockton Blvd. Partnership located at 5625 Stockton Blvd.
The coalition invites LGBTQA youth ages 14-24 who currently live or have lived in the South Sacramento Area to attend this meeting for more information on the SYPC and on how to become a member.  Adults 25+ are also welcome to attend to learn how they can support the SYPC and become mentors and advisors.
The SYPC is working with Mental Health America of Northern California to improve the experience of LGBTQA youth in South Sacramento through a grant funded by the California Endowment.
Interested parties can click here for an event flyer. Please feel free to share with your networks and with youth across South Sacramento. If you would like more information please contact Ajay Lawson at 916-284-8742.
Youth who are interested but have transportation issues or need special accommodations should contact Nicole Scanlan at 916-747-0210 for assistance.
Let’s talk LGBTQ

Neighborhood News/ Top News!

Let’s talk LGBTQ

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By Ajay Lawson

There are many resources that are needed in Sacramento, and one of those resources are safe places for youth, specifically LGBTQ and allied youth. Even though there are after school programs and other “safe places” for youth to go, few of these are friendly for youth that are LGBTQ. These places can lack mentors that are familiar and supportive or  have unwelcoming even homophobic feeling environments. It is important for a community to provide accessible resources for ALL youth and that means having a space that is safe for LGBTQ youth just like it is important to have a place where students from other cultural backgrounds can go to be safe.

Here in Sacramento, resources for LGBTQ youth are not well distributed as most services such as groups for youth are downtown, and while downtown is probably to easiest place to get to it is still a struggle for some. Good news is that over the past few years community members and organizations have taken sight of the lack of resources and started efforts to expand. For Sacramento, it may have just been the Gay and Lesbian Center. But, now there are resources such as the Connect Center in Sacramento City Unified School District and the Gender Health Center around that offer services for LGBTQ youth and even non-LGBTQ youth.

It may not be extremely visible but there are resources and services if you look.

If you would like to be involved with the current work that is happening to make Sacramento a more inclusive city for LGBTQ youth Contact Ajay Lawson via email at ajayxd@gmail.com or call/text her at 916-284-8742