By Patrick Comerford | Executive Director
First, let me introduce myself. My name is Patrick and I'm honored to be stepping into the role of Executive Director for True Colors, Inc. I am so honored to be leading this incredible organization and so excited to be a part the True Colors community. Our young folks are facing a whole new year and the reality of the pandemic seems to be here to stay for the forseeable future -- and True Colors is working to meet that moment.
LGBTQ+ youth are living with specific and unique needs when it comes to this pandemic and their time at home can be filkled with anxiety, being forced back into the closet, and having their identities misunderstoof or even erased by their families or caregivers. We know that LGBTQ+ youth are a high-risk population for family rejection and violence, forms of self-harm, suicidal ideation, substance abuse and homelessness.
We also know the difference that one supportive adult can make in the life of a young person. That's why we're so committed to providing safe a suportive spaces for LGBTQ+ youth over the internet while we're unable to gather in person.
We know that LGBTQ+ youth are a high-risk population for family rejection and violence, cutting and other forms of self-harm, suicide, substance abuse and homelessness. We also know that abuse reports to DCF have gone down dramatically -- not because there are fewer incidents, but because there are fewer 'eyes' on these vulnerable children and youth.
Because of the generosity and support of donors like you, we are:
Over the last four and half months we also hosted over thirty-eight evening activities for young people, held over twenty-four roundtable spaces for professionals working with young LGBTQ+ folks to gather and share experiences, and had over three thousand views of our Mini-Con virtual conference sessions!
We are adapting to meet this moment but that adapting takes resources. Technology, time and staffing resources, advertising dollars to reach young folks who might feel isolated and not know about our weekly youth programming, and more. That's why we’re so grateful for our supporters, folks who’ve been impacted by true colors in the past, and folks who wish they had an organization like True Colors when they were coming out or growing up, who are making all of this possible!
Thank you for your continued support -- you're our heroes and you make this work possible. I'm so excited about working together to make sure that we can meet the needs of LGBTQ+ youth and the people entrusted to care for them!
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By Robin McHaelen | Executive Director
By Robin P McHaelen | Executive Director
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