March 26, 2021
Greetings!
In March, we said goodbye (for now) to our friend, teammate and Pride Center founding member, Cat Haueter (She/They) & our volunteer coordinator, Polyamory Peer Power Group founder & general delight, Dawn Davidson (She/Her). We celebrated Trans Day of Visibility with our friends at the Redwood City Public Library with a Trans 101 training, supported community members with a food drive & released the results of the LGBTQ COVID-19 Survey (which to our knowledge is the first of its kind in California). We also went through (& continue to process) a collective sorrow and mourning with our Asian- American community members as we heard the stories of the 8 victims (6 of which were Asian Women) of a shooting rampage in Atlanta.
The Pride Center has no space for oppression of any kind and we stand firmly with our Asian, Asian-American & Pacific Islander siblings and community members. Please read our statement: here
|
|
|
| Thank you for all your hard work, Dawn! Your presence at the Pride Center is mighty, loving and spirited. Thank you for being present and dedicated to community building in whatever space you are in. We love you and will miss you. Dawn will still be present at community events and will continue to facilitate the Polyamory Peer Power group (on occasion). To quote Dawn, "You can't get rid of me that easily."
Please reach out to Ainsley (They/Them) at Ainsley.Blattel@sanmateopride.org if you have questions regarding the volunteer program.
|
|
| It is with great excitement and honor that we announce the release of their LGBTQ COVID Impact Study Report. Included in this report is both quantitative and qualitative data on how the pandemic has impacted LGBTQ communities in San Mateo County. To date, this is the only known data of how COVID-19 has impacted LGBTQ people in the state of California.
We had the great privilege to work with Schweizer Fellow, Ada Zhang (They/Them), who is from the Stanford School of Medicine. We also had the honor of working with their partners at the San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, San Mateo County Office of Diversity and Equity, San Mateo County PRIDE Initiative & San Mateo County LGBTQ Commission.
We do our best work when we do it together.
We would like to express gratitude to everyone for their involvement and participation in this report whether you took the survey, shared the link, and/or offered guidance in its development. This project was successful because of the tremendous support and involvement of community members and key stakeholders.
Please see this link: tinyurl.com/SMC-LGBTQ-CovidSurvey to access the survey Currently, the report is only available in English. We hope to have this translated in multiple languages in the future.
|
|
|
Thank you to everyone who attended the programming we hosted with our friends at the Redwood City Public Library on March 25! We were blown away by the community support and participation during the event. Please stay tuned for more collaborations in the future!
If you are interested in a training, please contact Azisa (They/She) at Azisa.Todd@sanmateopride.org.
|
|
| |
|
For the latest updates follow us on social media:
|
|
|
Have you participated in an event or program with the Pride Center in the last year? Do you live in San Mateo County? If you answered "yes" to at least one of those questions, then we want YOUR feedback!
The Pride Center has created a survey to gather feedback on our programming and events, and we'd appreciate your input. This is a chance to tell us how we're doing so that we can better support and serve YOU, our communities.
This survey should take approximately 7 minutes to complete and all answers will be completely anonymous. The deadline to submit feedback is May 17, 2021.
To share your feedback, click the button below or head to tinyurl.com/ProgramEventsSurvey2021.
For questions or concerns, email us at info@sanmateopride.org.
|
|
|
SPECIAL PROGRAMMING FROM THE PRIDE CENTER
|
|
|
| Join us on Thursday, April 22 for a special workshop to celebrate Earth Day! We're excited to co-host a Home Gardening workshop with our friends at the San Mateo County Office of Sustainability.
For more information about the event & presenter, as well as information about registering for this event,
please see this link:
tinyurl.com/GardeningWorkshopRegistration.
PLEASE NOTE: The first 5 people to register will be mailed seeds to start their springtime harvest! Don't miss out!
|
|
| SAN MATEO COUNTY PRIDE 2021!
|
|
|
The theme for San Mateo County Pride 2021 is "As Diverse as the Universe"
If you're interested in joining a planning meeting for San Mateo County Pride, join us for a monthly Pride Initiative during the second Wednesdays of the month from 4:30-6:00 PM. Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 14th. Please contact Dana (They/Them) at TherActivist@gmail.com for information about joining the meeting! For more information about the Pride Initiative, please see their Facebook page.
|
|
|
|
YAB presents Queer Joy: A Zine
All LGBTQ community members are invited to submit content to the Zine.
The final zine will be released during Pride Month. Stay tuned!
DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO APRIL 30th.
Send submissions to Ishani (They/Them) at Ishani@acs-teens.org
|
|
| Affordable Housing Workshop for Community Members 62
|
|
|
Virtual Affordable Housing Workshop for People 62
Tuesday, April 6 from 1:30-3:00 PM on Zoom
Looking for affordable housing and don’t know where to start? This FREE, VIRTUAL workshop explains how affordable housing works in this area for people who are 62 and what steps you need to take to get on the waitlists for affordable housing. Come with a notebook and a pen to learn about affordable housing opportunities.
Workshop is free and open to the public, aged 62 (all are welcome! Need not be LGBTQ )
To RSVP and receive log in information about joining this group, please contact Ellyn (she/her) at
ebloomfield@peninsulafamilyservice.org.
|
|
| | March's Trans Talks was cancelled. We apologize for the inconvenience. Stay tuned for information about April's Trans Talks workshop!
We want to hear from YOU! If you have suggestions or requests for workshop topics, please contact Neilwary@stanford.edu
To access recordings of previous Trans Talks, please use this link:
tinyurl.com/transtalks-recordings
|
|
|
Volunteer Senior Peer Councilor training
|
|
|
Volunteers Make a Difference
In just ONE hour a week, LGBTQ Senior Peer Counseling volunteers provide peer counseling to LGBTQ older adults in the community.
Who are our Volunteers?
People like you who: Are interested in helping LGBTQ older adults, are sensitive & reliable, desire a flexible schedule, are age 55 or older, willing to be screened for a background check.
Benefits to Volunteers:
Personal satisfaction with helping others, establish caring relationships, have an opportunity to develop new skills & network, obtain information on aging issues, interact with other volunteers.
Benefits to Clients: Someone to really listen, enhance quality of life, provide needed socialization, reduce isolation & stigma
How to Volunteer?
Contact Ellyn Bloomfield (She/Her), LGBTQ Senior Peer Counseling Coordinator
Phone: (650) 403-4300 x 4383 or
Email: ebloomfield@peninsulafamilyservice.org
If you would like to complete an online Volunteer Application for the LGBTQ Senior Peer Counseling Program. Please print and sign the application, and return it to Peninsula Family Service via email: ebloomfield@peninsulafamilyservice.org, fax (650) 403-4303, or mail: Peninsula Family Service 24 Second Avenue, San Mateo CA 94401.
Following the training process, you will meet your client.
If you know of an LGBTQ San Mateo County resident, age 55 and over, who seem a bit isolated, without social supports, and would benefit from senior peer counseling, please contact us at
(650) 403-4300 x4383.
|
|
|
Current Therapy Availability! For those of our community seeking support around mental health, we are happy to report that our clinical team is taking on new clients. We have openings for both private pay and Medi-Cal clients. Interested? Fill out our handy Clinical Services Request form and a clinician will reach out to you within a few days:
|
|
|
|
NEXT MEETING: APRIL 5
The Trans Peer Support Group (18 ) has shifted from a weekly format to a monthly format. This group is still free, still open to community member 18 and will still meet through Zoom, but will now meet on the first Monday of the month from 6:00-7:30pm
Please use this link to register to attend: tinyurl.com/smcpc-transgroup1
|
|
| Wed. April 7, 7-8:30pm
Polyamory Peer Power Meeting
APRIL TOPIC: Compersion! With guest speakers Marie Thouin & Kathy Labriola.
Join us via Zoom to discuss compersion: that state of feeling happy when your other partner/s is happy. Marie will share her cutting-edge doctoral research on the topic, and Kathy will explore how to identify obstacles to compersion, including techniques to counteract them. Share stories, get support, and meet other polyamorous/etc people. Read the full announcement on MeetUp: https://www.meetup.com/bay-area-polyamory-collective/events/xjdpdsyccgbkb/
Pre-registration is required. Register for your unique Zoom access link here: https://tinyurl.com/Poly-Peer-Power
|
|
| | Virtual Legal Name and Gender Change Workshop Sessions!
Wednesday, April 28
|
|
|
To date, our Legal Name and Gender Change workshops have served close to 200 folks – and we plan to serve even more in the months to come. Because we have seen an increase in demand from community members since taking our workshop online, we are very excited to announce an expansion to our program: the rollout of new group workshop sessions!
By opening up our name and gender change workshop to now include group sessions, we see many benefits. In these new group settings:
- We can serve and support even more individuals at once;
- We can cover even more valuable material and answer questions in more depth;
- We can also provide a great networking opportunity to connect attendees with others who share similar identities and are going through the same process.
Our workshops are completely free of charge and are held virtually through Zoom. Workshops occur on the last Wednesday of each month, in both morning and evening sessions. Upcoming dates are: April 28th, and May 26th.
- AM Session: 11:00am–12:30pm
- PM Session: 5:00pm–6:30pm
If you or someone you know would like to attend, please RSVP online at: http://bit.ly/name-and-gender-change-rsvp
Please contact our Lead Case Manager, Alex Golding (he/him) if you have any questions. He can be reached at alex.golding@sanmateopride.org or at 650-465-6795.
|
|
| | Reminders & Announcements
|
|
|
As we continue to navigate around COVID-19
|
|
|
Happy April, community. We're here for you! Stay safe and take care of yourselves.
In Community,
Marilyn (she/her)
Marketing and Community Engagement Lead
|
|
|
The San Mateo County Pride Center is a program of StarVista in collaboration with Outlet of Adolescent Counseling Services, and Peninsula Family Service.
|
|
|
|
|
