January 5, 2001 * Just M t f
Ii’ i i j ¡ i l l i v i d ì m e w s
Call today for a
free qualification
over the phone
S mall -T own S upport
First Time Buyers ♦ FHA/VA Loons
Program targets gay youth in rural southwest Washington
Self-Employed ♦ Complicated Borrowers
Bankruptcies & Foreclosures ♦ Credit Problems
by Jonathan Kipp
Investment Properties ♦ Pre-opprovols
100% Financing Programs
exual minority youth in Washington
state’s rural Cowlitz and Wahkiakum
counties soon will have a support and
resource program to help them through
their often difficult adolescence.
The program will offer a weekly support
group, establish a private and confidential mes
sage phone line and network with other region
al and national gay-positive youth and parent
groups. A $25,000 grant will help get the pro
gram off the ground.
A part-time coordinator will be hired this
month to spearhead the outreach program and
bring gay youth and their families together with
community resources. The new program is
sponsored by 10 re
gional organizations
including the Lower
Columbia Commu
nity Action Coun
cil, the area’s lead
ing social service
agency.
Alan Rose, who
works for the coun
cil, has taken the
lead in getting the
program up and run
ning since last fall.
He brings experi
ence to the effort,
having started the
Triple Point Youth
Group— a similar
support organization
for gay youth in
Vancouver
spon-
Alan Rose
sored by Cascade
AIDS Project. He is the former HIV prevention
program manager at CAP.
After Rose addressed Cowlitz County Diver
sity Task Force members at their invitation last
fall, they decided to make gay youth their pri
ority. “We started from a basic premise that
regardless of one’s personal beliefs or attitudes
about homosexuality, every child in our com
munity has the right to be respected and val
ued," he says.
The challenge to implement a new out
reach program in a rural area is exciting for
Rose. Although it will have similarities to the
Vancouver program, it will be different; none
of the sponsoring agencies is related to HIV
or AID S.
“I like this because it isn’t associating the
youth with any of the health risks that queer
youth can be associated with,” Rose says. He
expects this will help attract some youth who
otherwise would stay away.
But programs in urban areas have avenues to
reach targeted youth: coffee shops, clubs, book
stores and other social service agencies. In rural
areas, these options aren’t available.
Rose says his program will have to rely on
school counselors, an area college campus and a
few supportive churches to reach gay youth.
Reaching those who need support will be the
program’s first challenge.
S
ome studies indicate sexual minority youth
are at particular risk for harassment, vio
lence, dropping out of school, homelessness,
substance abase, HIV and other sexually trans
mitted diseases. Other studies indicate they
have an increased risk for suicide.
Although schools no longer tolerate racial
and religious slurs, homophobic comments are
common from students— and sometimes even
teachers. Too often, Rose says, gay youth are the
insult of choice in public schools, which is why
support organizations are so important.
He is aware of the challenge ahead and fully
expects a “conservative backlash.” The program
soon will be featured in the Longview-based
paper The Daily News, and he is prepared for a
flurry of letters to the editor that likely will follow.
But Rose says people have been supportive of
the program so far. He says the region has
dynamic, creative and energetic folks who want
to make positive changes in support of gay and
lesbian community members.
“ When we learned the landlord was selling
our house, we called Christine in a panic. Being
Christine C. Hall
self employed, we thought it might be impossible
Mortgage Broker
President's Club
to buy, but Christine came to the rescue. She
made the extra effort to get all our paperwork
in order and the loan approved. ”
SAINT JUDE
Care Center
6003 S E 136th Avenue
Portland, O R 97236
Please contact
Penny at 503-761-1155
-
800-345-9190
503-301-1941
w T ji
- Patti & Joy, R ita s Flowers
503 624-1513
Mi
Pager
Be Yourself
at Work!
We are searching for qualified and caring
Nursing Professionals
Registered Nurses
Licensed Practical Nurses
Certified Medication Aides
Certified Nursing Assistants
Our work environment honors the diversity of our staff.
We offer competitive wages and benefits,
including health insurance for domestic partners.
ore than 5,000 high school students live
> in the Cowlitz/Wahkiakum area. Rose
estimates at least 250 are gay and lesbian youth.
Studies, he says, indicate most of them have
experienced homophobic insults and slurs in
school. More sobering, based on national statis
tics, 33 percent will attempt to end their lives
before they turn 21.
Rose says the area has the highest teen sui
cide rate relative to other rural Washington
counties. “This program aims to provide these
youth in our community the resources, sup
port and services to help them survive in a
society still largely unfriendly and unsympa
thetic to them.”
Rose knows firsthand what it is like to reach
out and not find any support. When he started
to realize he was gay, he had nowhere to go for
support, so he went to his college library for
more information.
Rose found only two books— and both
described homosexuality as a form of psy
chopathology. “It’s been so important to me to
create” a safe and supportive environment for
young people, he says.
Rose and his supporters have a year to estab
lish the program and prove that a need is being
met and that youth are utilizing their services. If
they can do that, he says, they can justify seek
ing additional funding.
“We believe that queer youth need support
from the community,” he says. “This group will
provide them the opportunity to get it. - j r n
For more information about the program or the
coordinator position contact Alan Rose of the
Lower Columbia Community Action Council at
360-425-3430 or 800-383-210/.
^ See my other fin e listings in the Classified Ads, j
— C E L I A J- L Y O N —
S a le s A sso c ia te
(5 0 3 ) 2 8 7 - 8 9 8 9 x 5 7 7 4
(5 0 3 ) 7 8 6 - 4 9 5 9
Pager: 920-8403
Mobile: 260-6231
Fax: 284-1618
19
3