LGBTQIA+ Equality United States Project #31064

LGBTQ Youth and Families across Connecticut

by True Colors, Inc. Sexual Minority Youth and Family Services of CT

LGBTQ Youth and Families across Connecticut

Project Report | Jun 22, 2020
LGBTQ+, Covid and Black Lives Matter

By Robin P. McHaelen | Executive Director

Both a Celebration and an Action against Racism

Wow. Life as we knew it is so different now. So different.

Thank you so much for all of your support. We are able to do what we do, even in these strange new times, because of folks like you. You are our heroes!!

LGBTQ+ youth are enduring unique stressors during the pandemic and their confinement at home. Homelessness is up, with few resources to support them.

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 the Department of Children and Families have gone down dramatically -- not because there are fewer incidents, but because there are fewer 'eyes' on these vulnerable children and youth.

For Black and Brown youth who are also LGBTQ+, this is an even more difficult time. There are daily reminders of the impact of racism, on-going trauma with the police violence and murders of Black men, women and children. When the Supreme Court ruled last week that Title VII included protections against discrimination for LGBTQ+ people that was a huge victory, but I couldn’t help thinking about LGBTQ+ folks of color in that moment – valued and supported on one core element of their identity, murdered in the streets for another core element of their identity.

At True Colors, we are doing what we can to help. Because of the generosity and loyalty of donors like you, we are:

Offering twice weekly remote youth groups (Tuesday and Friday); serving about 70 youth
Providing twice weekly adult provider support and networking (Wednesday AM & PM)
Supporting the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement with volunteers, staff participation in rallies and protests, the provision of supplies such as water and masks, and using our social media platforms to amplify BLM’s goals and objectives.
We offered a free, six week MiniCon Series to help make up for the loss of the face-to-face annual conference. This is the final week and will be a celebration of LGBTQ+ culture. Past weeks (and dozens of other informational videos) are available on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLlOWfrNpKWsFwxaH00gQqw

Thank you again for all of your support. We know we couldn’t to what we do without you!

some of the many available on our YouTube Channel

Links:

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Feb 25, 2020
Memories

By Robin McHaelen | Executive Director

Nov 18, 2019
Holidays can be hard for our kids

By McHaelen | Executive Director

Rainbow Friday

There is always so much talk about family at this time of the year. Facebook; Instagram; TV Commercials; holiday movies; every store, everywhere. You can't escape the season. Most of us don't want to - we love spending time with loved ones.

Then there are our kids. LGBTQ+ youth in out-of-home-care. Foster homes, group homes, detention, residential hospitals... So many have been rejected by their families because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The holidays hurt.

The holidays are constant, unrelenting reminders of what they don't have. Because of the support of people like you, True Colors is able to be there for our kids through our mentors, our social programming and this year, our chosen family dinner on 'Rainbow Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving). We would love to have you join us for dinner at 4:00. You would get a chance to meet the kids whose lives your donations have changed and we would get the opportunity to say thank you, face-to-face.

We wanted to let you know, too about another way you could make a difference. Specifically, we are looking for folks like you to 'donate a memory' - an experience that a youth and their mentor can have together that creates new memories, happier memories around the holidays.

It can be anything. Movie, theater or museum tickets; bowling or rock climbing or laser tag gift certificates; dinner for two someplace a little less MacDonalds but not so 'bougie' that our kids would feel out of place. The key is that it offers the opportunity for a youth who has been rejected by their families to build new memories during a difficult season.

If you are interested, you can send your memory donations to us at: True Colors, Inc. 30 Arbor Street, Suite 201A, Hartford, CT 06106 with 'memories' in the memo line.

But no matter what, please know that you have already made a difference for our youth. You support matters. And we are very, very grateful!

Attachments:

Donate a memory (PDF)

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