Project Report
| Dec 4, 2018
Single Step December 2018 Update
By Ivan Dimov | Founder & Chairman
Since my last update, we have continued our efforts to support, motivate, and empower young LGBTI people in Bulgaria. Below are some of our notable initiatives / accomplishments.
- As part of Single Step’s efforts to offer comprehensive resources for the LGBTI community in Bulgaria we introduced a very targeted HIV initiative, #endHIVbg, as a logical addition and an essential resource for prevention, testing, and psychological help for LGBTI people in the country. The first major undertaking is an innovative, targeted pilot campaign targeting hard-to-reach groups, in partnership with Grindr (the world largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people), GlaxoSmithKline, Gilead Sciences and the National Patients’ Organization (the largest such organization in Bulgaria). Starting in September 2018, we distributed 900 entirely free, OraQuick® HIV oral-fluid self-testing kits to MSM (“Men who have sex with men”) in the country. As part of the initiative users had to fill out an online survey. The collected data will be utilized to publish a report with 2 main goals in mind: (i) internal: as a community-led initiative, we plan to use the report to lobby the relevant institutions in Bulgaria in order to introduce confidential home self-testing as a sustainable and viable alternative to legacy testing centers; and (ii) external: Grindr plans to use the findings from our initiative as a practical case study for other markets globally. We plan to present the results from the pilot program and the survey, at major HIV / AIDS international conferences.
- We were recently notified by Positive Action Challenges (a ViiV-funded initiative) that our #endHIVbg pilot program has been provisionally awarded a "Breaking Out of the Echo Chambers" prize of USD$10,000, subject to an external validation process.
- On September 27th, 2018 Single Step's volunteers won the TimeHeroes’ “Power of Spirit” award for their dedication, motivation and their heart, for operating our online chat service. This is a huge recognition for Single Step, since TimeHeroes is the largest and widely respected volunteer platform in the country.
- I was incredibly humbled to have been selected from over 6,000 applicants from all over the world to join the pilot Facebook Community Leadership Program (FCLP) with Single Step, alongside other aspiring leaders building meaningful communities in 46 countries, both online and offline. As part of the program, we will receive funding, training, and support to advance further positive social impact in our communities and countries. In Facebook’s own words: “We started FCLP to address the needs identified by community leaders. This global initiative will give over 100 participants from around the world the support, tools, funding and the belief in themselves that they need to best lead their communities.”
- I hope that in our next update report, I will be able to report on the launch of our very ambitious new project related to establishing our Community Center, as an innovative social enterprise. Stay tuned!
Thank you so much for your continued support!
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
Sep 5, 2018
Single Step Summer 2018 Update
By Ivan Dimov | Founder & Chairman
This summer we focused on the following main areas in order to increase LGBTI youth outreach and services, and the visibility of Single Step:
- In partnership with GLSEN and Bilitis, Single Step launched the first national online study assessing the climate in high-schools in Bulgaria to learn more about the experiences of young LGBTI people in schools across the country. There is no official data in Bulgaria on this subject. The data gathered will help us objectively present the situation with LGBTI students and what challenges they face in Bulgarian high schools. We will then prepare a report which will be used to craft an action plan to create a safer environment for LGBTI high school students;
- We expanded our peer groups which provide a safe environment for LGBTI youth;
- In partnership with ONE Gallery, one of the premier art spaces in Sofia, we showcased “Labyrinth”, the works by the up-and-coming American artist Edward Granger. He also starred in our Be Yourself video, which we released earlier this year;
- On June 16 we organized the “Team with a Dream" sporting event, under the patronage of the Mayor of Sofia, in partnerships with TELUS International and VMware. The team comprised of three well-known athletes in Bulgaria – the ultramarathon runner Krasse Georgiev, the two-time world champion in parkour/ freerun Delyan "Dido" Dimitrov, and Single Step’s founder and marathon runner and CrossFit athlete Ivan Dimov. The event raised funds for three foundations targeting youth in Bulgaria, including Single Step and received broad TV, print and online coverage;
- Earlier in September we launched our online store, where we sell merchandise from our Be Yourself campaign and the very first Bulgarian Manga-style comic book published in cooperation with Single Step.
We thank you for your generosity in order to ensure the financial viability of Single Step. Any donation of any size will be extremely appreciated!
Thank you very much for your continued support!
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
Jun 8, 2018
Single Step June 2018 Update
By Ivan Dimov | Founder & Chairman
April and May have been very busy months for us at Single Step in terms of increasing the scope of our support network and the visibility and outreach of the organization.
- We now have 12 trained online chat and toll-free hotline volunteers;
- In April, Single Step's Founder, Ivan Dimov gave a TEDx talk entitled "Changing the World through Bubbles, Snowflakes and Pushups."
- In mid May, we held a two-day training seminar for 8 psychologists each from different cities around Bulgaria. We thus started creating a network of professionals to whom we can refer users of our support services (online chat and toll-free hotline) in need of individual consultations;
- We recently launched a video "Be Yourself" produced by world-class professionals pro bono. The video became viral among young people on Facebook in Bulgaria because of its universal and inspirational message. We are sharing the video with a number of international LGBTI organizations for them to use for free locally.
We thank you for your generosity in order to ensure the financial viability of Single Step. Any donation of any size will be extremely appreciated!
Thank you very much for your continued support!
Links:
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
