On April 8, 2015, seven young people touched down in Minneapolis, MN for a week of leadership and advocacy training. One two-hour drive later, they find themselves in peaceful Willow River at One Heartland’s sprawling campground, home to three lakes, miles of trails, and one towering, tempting, taunting rock wall. This being the inaugural year of the Fellowship, some wondered what exactly they were getting themselves into.
Fast forward half a year. In September, the same seven young people joined us in Houston, TX at the True Colors Fund’s Forty to None Summit to discuss some of the work they’ve done over the past six months, share their lives with others, and collaborate with national leaders on solutions to end homelessness among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth.
The True Fellowship program connects exceptional LGBT youth who have experienced homelessness with an organization in their region to create, develop, and execute projects that contribute to the ongoing vision of LGBT inclusion. Fellows have the opportunity to develop hands-on organizing experience in an area of their choosing, make connections with experts in the field, and foster professional development skills.
Check out some of the awesome things our True Fellows did this year. We can’t wait to see what they accomplish going forward.
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Rivianna Hyatt; Oakland, CA
“I was proud of my ability to mostly stay on top of things when there wasn’t a lot of face-to-face accountability. That’s never been my strong suit and this fellowship helped me overcome so many challenges with my own work style.”
Rivianna’s project, Beyond the Balcony, gave LGBT young people experiencing homelessness and housing instability a behind-the-scenes look at the world of theater in San Francisco. Participants were introduced to the inner workings of a theater production, met the cast and crew, learned about career opportunities available in the arts, and capped it all off by seeing a show.
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Angel VanStark; San Francisco, CA
“I was fortunate enough to speak at several hearings, but I think the proudest moment for me was watching other young people speak up. I felt proud for their ability to not only speak up for other homeless youth, but to do it proudly and boldly.”
Angel worked with the California Homeless Youth Project to advocate for the passage of state legislation to better the lives of LGBT youth experiencing homelessness.
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Kristopher Sharp; Houston, TX
“When I seen, read, and heard conversations about the various op-eds my collaborators wrote – that was a powerful moment. What that meant to me was that people were reading them, they were sharing them, and they were thinking about the content of what was written.”
Kristopher worked to raise awareness about LGBT youth homelessness in Houston, TX through a series of blog posts, op-eds, and newspaper articles. He also collaborated with the local Continuum of Care and NEST, the HUD-led LGBTQ Youth Homelessness Prevention Initiative in Houston, which the True Colors Fund helped develop and is a technical assistance provider.
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Bentley Burdick; Billings, MT
“I think one of the highlights was finally seeing my blog in its entirety, when it was finished with a few posts up – the design I helped with, the pictures I took, and the words that I wrote. It’s everything I didn’t even really know that I wanted and to have something so solid (though ‘solid’ is used loosely here) fills me with this unending pride over the knowledge that I did that and that when people go to this site, the only thing they see is me, even without realizing it.”
Bentley launched a blog focused on the experiences of a “shakily housed” LGBT youth in a rural area. The blog, CaughtUnderGlass.com, includes an online support group that connects LGBT youth across the country who have had similar experiences.
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Christian Aguilar; Miami, FL
“Getting feedback from the True Colors Fund staff encouraged me to keep moving forward and that everything will come along great! At the end, presenting the project and seeing everyone else’s projects brought a smile to my face.”
Christian worked to connect LGBT youth in the foster care system to opportunities to access secondary education. He has built relationships with local organizations working with youth in foster care.
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Thomas Wilson; New York, NY
“The fellowship training was one of the best experiences meeting my new friends and learning so many things about myself, new skills, and refining old skills. It was such a great experience for me.”
Thomas’ project, BodyFULL, was a 10 week program to help develop healthy coping mechanisms and practices for LGBT youth experiencing homelessness through artistic expression.
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Michael Sydlik; San Francisco, CA
“It was important to me to see what truly can be changed, and I found through the process that quite a bit could be changed… being inclusive and affirming is something we have to do. This process is important because the queer community is ever-changing and ever-evolving. We need to be current with the latest trends, acronyms, and usage of terms, etc.”
Michael led The Lark-Inn youth shelter through the True Colors Fund’s True Inclusion Assessment process. The goal was to ensure that all youth seeking services from the Lark-Inn feel safe, accepted, and affirmed.
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“Just a year ago the True Fellowship was just a dream. Through the hard work and dedication from these awesome young people it has become not only a reality, but essential to our Youth Collaboration work,” said Twiggy Pucci Garçon, Senior Program Officer at the True Colors Fund who leads the True Fellowship program. “I couldn’t be more proud of all they’ve accomplished in 2015, and there is so much more to come.”
Rivanna, Angel, Kristopher, Bentley, Christian, Thomas, and Michael are awesome. We couldn’t be more proud to call this our inaugural group of Fellows.