What we do:
- Staff facilitates educational presentations for teachers and community providers to enhance their recognition of the risk and protective factors and the warning signs for suicide and self-harm. Training is also designed to enhance their ability to intervene with LGBTQ youth who are suicidal or self-injurying. Each presentation includes a focus on how to increase support for these youth. We also facilitate trainings on bullying and bias based harassment (as it pertains to LGBTQ youth) and the links these experiences have with negative mental health outcomes.
- In partnership with LGBTQ youth, OUTLoud staff deliver educational presentations to teens and young adults in groups like gay-straight alliances.
- OUTLoud staff are actively involved in several different community coalitions with particular interests in homeless youth and school-aged youth support. Our staff serve on the leadership team for the Safe Schools Coalition and participate in their law and policy team. We have also served as volunteer facilitators for the NW Network’s OUT Spoken youth panels. A volunteer facilitator organizes the sessions and supervises/advises the youth panelists who talk about their experiences around GLBT identity, bullying, school safety, and acceptance.
- We have served as part of a team that developed a King County website/resource for youth workers. The site provides information on local trainings, jobs, events, and relevant news. The team also provides monthly trainings for youth workers on topics ranging from working with LGBTQ youth to using social networking in outreach.
- The OUTLoud Project staff organized a youth advisory group that was responsible for writing a script for a DVD that was produced in collaboration with Reel Grrls. The DVD, named “You are NOT Alone” accompanies the trainings that are delivered by youth for youth. The DVD focuses on three local LGBTQ youth and their experiences with suicide and self harm.
For more information and to arrange training, please contact our OUTLoud Project Manager, Heather Carter at heather@yspp.org or at (206) 297-5922 ext. 116.
