m ay 1. 1998 * J u s t m a t 17
rTTTÌTl news
YouTH S how
the
W hat ’ s M ore I mportant : W here Y ou
I nvest O r W here Y ou G et Y our
I nvestment A dvice .
W ay
The Sexual Minority Youth Network and Love Makes a Family
team up to write a bright new chapter for queer youth by Inga
For the first time in 16 years, a great number of taxpayers can ben
efit directly from the major Taxpayer Reform Act of 1997. It’s
Sorensen
important to start planning now to take full advantage of
these new opportunities. I'm committed to help
ing individuals, domestic partners, couples and
families understand their financial options.
FIOREID WALKER
(503) 23*6036
!-80O48"-6626
Voicemail:(503) 291-7713
http://www waddell com
W
develop the networks ability to articulate its
agenda, and assist members in going to policy
makers to advocate for putting time, effort and
money toward that agenda.
According to its mission statement, Love
Makes a Family aims to “provide a public voice
for all families, especially those subjected to
social, economic and legal discrimination due to
sexual orientation or gender identity/expres-
sion.”
Its goals include building a “strong communi
ty of families headed by or including sexual
minorities and those supportive of our families,”
and creating a climate “accepting of sexual diver
sity through providing information, sharing our
experiences and speaking persuasively in public.”
T he group, which was incorporated in 1993,
was a driving force behind two coalitions focus
ing on sexual minority issues: the Oregon
Freedom to Marry Coalition and the Portland
Public Schools Sexual Minority Parents
Advisory Group.
Sexual Minority Youth Network meetings
will initially take place at Love Makes a Family’s
office, which is located in Union Station in
downtown Portland.
According to Rudd, the network is currently
developing a council of representatives com
prised of queer youth and service providers who
will lend support to youth and the agencies serv
ing them, and produce an institutional analysis
of the changes needed to increase support for
sexual minority youth.
An individual will be hired to be the part-
time network coordinator, and sexual minority
youth are being encouraged to apply. There will
also be a stipendiary teen internship supporting
the coordinator.
“This is a unique opportunity for youth, lots
of whom have been asking for something like
this,” says Rudd. “We can essentially make this
what we want it to be. I’m thrilled about the
possibilities.”
Love Makes a Family’s proposal was created
in consultation with most of the primary agen
cies serving sexual minority youth in
Multnomah County, including Phoenix Rising
Foundation, Outside In, the Sexual Minority
Youth Recreation Center, Metropolitan
Community Church of Portland, Brother to
Brother, Portland Public Schools, Lesbian
Community Project, and Roots and Branches.
■ The next meeting o f the SEXUAL MINORITY
Y o u t h N etw o rk is slated, for May 5 at 6 pm in
Room 256, Union Station, 800 N W Sixth A ve. m
Portland. For more inform ation, call 228-3892 or
227-198/.
F I S A N C IA ! SE R V IC E *
Get the Facts. It’s your Money.
It’s your Future.
A Sexual
Minority
Youth
Network
meeting
hen the Sexual M inority
Youth Network first met in
mid-December, it featured a
feisty interchange among its
three dozen participants,
many of whom were teenagers who expressed
frustration with business as usual.
For them, the status quo equaled controlling
adults who tossed dictates at kids. Often times
the espousals took the form of “This is good for
you” or “This is what you need.” T he grown-ups
wrote the rules and had a lock on the purse
strings.
“Lots of youth basically said they felt like
they weren’t being heard,” says Melissa Rudd,
21, a queer youth activist.
T h e overwhelming sentim ent voiced by
young people during the gathering, which was
spoasored by Multnomah County, was that
youth needed more say in determining what
their own needs were, as well as ways to meet
those needs.
“You could hear and see the frustration, but
something really exciting has come about since
then,” says Rudd, who has worked with, among
others, Outside In and Phoenix Rising
Foundation. “Younger people now have a way to
make some decisions.”
T he Sexual Minority Youth Network, under
the auspices of Multnomah County, was estab
lished to help foster better communication
about and more effective delivery of services to
queer youth.
T he county recently awarded a $20,000 con
tract to Love Makes a Family, Inc., to become
the network’s official facilitator.
According to county program development
specialist Tom Ochinero, the county was look
ing for a provider who had the “experience and
ability to provide services in a manner which is
culturally competent,” as well as an “awareness
of differences among sexual minority youth” and
“credibility in the community.”
Among other points, the contract recipient
is expected to: mobilize a full range of network
partners, including sexual minority youth, cler
gy, business representatives, service providers,
policy makers and others; enable youth to take
an active part in network leadership by provid
ing sufficient training and technical support to
ensure that activities occur with youth, not for
youth; remove barriers to participation by youth
through provision of stipends, options for trans
portation, selection of youth-friendly meeting
times and locations, as well as other means
acceptable to youth that enable them to fully
participate in network activities; and help create
a comprehensive agenda for queer youth issues,
Waddell & Reed
The “Facts on Saving and Investing Campaign." is
a national effort to encourage investor education. It
represents many of the values that Waddell & Reed has
strongly supported for over 60 years.
• Americans need financial education.
• It’s never to early to begin estimating
your retirement needs.
• It’s important to set realistic expectations.
• We should teach our children to save.
• Start small, think big and know your rights and
responsibilities as an investor.
Get the facts to make the most of your financial future.
For more information call your local
Waddell & Reed financial advisor.
W iddell & nNA Reed
NCui amas
Floreid Walker - Senior Financial Advisor
500 N.E. Multnomah. Suite 278
Portland. OR 97232
(503) 291-7713
The government agencies and their partners that organized this campaign
have not endorsed any particular firms, brokers, products, or services.
Pfllil
sp&incs
Serving you r rea l estate
n eed s fo r ...
C rcc
C r a y
(
D Ö
OS
C 0N D
5
V acation H o m e s
H otel P r o p er t ies
A pa rtm en t B l d g s .
Hawaii
Specialist
W ayne
B o u le t t e
H a w a ii P a c k a g e s
from budget to super luxury
Hawaiian gay wedding arrangements
Hawaiian house rentals
760 ) 833-5434
PA CIFIC N O RTH W EST
■ lä r
■REALI
T O U R & TRA V EL
“M ake Y ovr D reams
2 il L Palm Canyon
Palm Spdng», CA 92264 C ome T rue T oday ! ”
1503 - 286-5811
Pick up
1 -8 0 0 -8 3 5 -5 8 6 0
here.