the YAC 2015-16

Rahel Gebre

This year was my first year being a member of the YAC. To be completely honest, it met my expectation and sometimes went above. I had the opportunity to meet many amazing new people. I loved how we, the teens, were in charge of coming up with ideas about how we wasn’t our workshops to look like and what we want to be educated about. If I were to do this year over, I wouldn’t change anything except talk and participate more, w

hich I plan on doing more of next year. To sum up, I love the YAC, I just feel like we are one big happy family who meet every Wednesday, eat pizza, educate each other and laugh.

Abriana Luke-Scales

My final YAC year is completed. It’s been a very long 5 years. I’ve learned so much and met so many people. I’ve been able to interact with so many different types of people. I enjoy helping people. Thank you for the opportunity.

Da'Quaye Wells

This YAC year was very successful. The topics we discussed taught me a lot. The YAC members made the meetings and events fun to attend. I really loved the weekly food, I am very grateful for it. The meetings did a great job at education me on various topics such as all of the sexual health information, banking/saving information, and mental health. I am thankful for the very supportive YAC coordinators I’m glad I could interact with some of them on a personal level such as Ms. Dominique with my French help outside if school.

2016 Youth Pride Day & Stonewall Conference

Daja Moorer

Youth Pride Day as a whole was a success. Planning Youth Pride was fun especially when it became competitive with the buttons, shirts and slogans. Tyler was really helpful in giving us background about Youth Pride. Once the day came I was very excited for the day itself. Even though it rained we still had fun at the after party.

Lorenzo Brown 

My experience at the Stonewall was very eye opening. It opened my eyes to a whole new lifestyle in terms of the legislative part of the LGBTQ battle. I also found this conference was a chance to better my relationship with Ms. Tunde. Overall, the experience was great and was more of a refresher than Youth Pride Day

Rebecca Akhigbe

This past Saturday I attended the Stonewall conference. The first session I attended was how to be an ally. This session discussed such topics as North Carolina Schools and how their system chooses to operate based around how one see’s themselves (their sex). During this session I was able to view and evaluate different personal stories about teen’s battles in North Carolina and publicly sharing their sex. It really surprised me how their school system is different. Also how more severe the treatment towards them for identity as a certain sex are treated to my school

Youth Pride Day 2015

On May 2, 2015, YAC members were able to participate in Youth Pride Day and cater to their fellow peers and community members. Please read as some of them share their reflections below:

Lorenzo Brown
Youth Pride Day was very eye-opening. The day was very fun. When you say LGBTQ, every category was there. The festive was very diverse and more of a “melting pot” of pride. Everyone was friendly and open. We provided lots of information on how the YAC helps the adolescent community. Everyone was in high spirits and it was a great turnout.

Shayla Foster
Youth Pride Day was fun. We had lot of time to learn and lots of time to work and talk to people. I think the best part was spray painting t-shirts with my Y.A.C. members. Youth Pride Day was a great idea for a platform of empowering children who want and need support. I saw many children who were very proud and happy about themselves. I think that the program is a great idea. The activities were very fun and they related with the topics of the event. I have many new information and knowledge on the topic of safe places, testing places, camps, programs, and hotlines.

Jamari Jackson
When going in to YPD, I was kind of nervous and skeptical of how it was going to go. When arriving all of my previous thoughts changed. The setup around the circle was very good and if I was a participant of the YPD, I would have been pleased and excited to enjoy the event. While being at the event, running the various tables, I was never bored. It was a pleasure for me to help the participants that came that day because it was a joy to do.

A special letter from Paul Marengo to YAC members and others involved with organizing for Youth Pride Day

Greetings,

On behalf of the Youth Pride Alliance, I’d like to welcome you to the 19th Annual Youth Pride Day. It’s hard to believe Youth Pride Day is 19 years old. For nearly two decades, Youth Pride Day has been an event where GLBTQ youth and their allies can learn about their community, as well as be a place to enjoy the day and just be themselves.

I would like to extend a special thank you to all our sponsors, advertisers, exhibitors, and volunteers for 2015. Without their support and participation, Youth Pride Day couldn’t happen.
We’d love to see you get more involved in Youth Pride Day and the Youth Pride Alliance, as we’re always looking for new ideas and help. As you celebrate this year, remember that there are others too frightened or closeted to join us. It has been the Youth Pride Alliance’s goal to ensure that every youth regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity has the right to live, to love, and to be loved.

Happy Pride,

Paul Marengo
Chair, Youth Pride Day 2015

YAC members are engaging in community service at various locations throughout the city. We are working hard to give back to our community and do good for the community. We try hard to educate and share the knowledge we know about various health topics.

2014-2015 Orientation

YAC members were introduced to one another and ready to share great ideas on how to make the most out of the year. There was a two-day orientation where members were able to get established with one another and become familiar with the YAC.

2013-14 YAC Orientation Activity #ThrowBack #YACKodakmoment

2013-14 YAC Orientation Group Picture #ThrowBack #YACKodakmoment

Chidimma's YAC Reflection

Chidimma-

            

                 My experience at YAC was great. I was able to learn new things and meet new people. The one event I enjoyed the most at YAC was doing outreaches. As I walked down the street on Gallery and interacted with other about the ways to have safe sex made me feel as though I was making a difference. Not many youth have a chance to be heard, so being part of YAC allowed me to have a voice. I was able to go out into the community and spread to the youth on how to live a healthy life. During my time at YAC, I met new people who came up with great and creative ideas at the YAC sessions. Another event I enjoyed was Youth Pride Day. I have never attended Youth Pride Day before. In this event, everyone was able to express their selves and not be judged. At this event I saw many new faces and had great conversations with them. Being part of YAC has allowed me to be more open, less judgmental, and have better speaking skills. I am very grateful that I was chosen to be part of YAC. I am going to really miss it! 

Kalaya's YAC Reflection

Kalaya-

            I enjoyed my time at YAC. I made new friends. Also I learned a lot about STD’S and HIV/AIDS. We did a lot of things in YAC. We did outreaches, passed out health packets. We also had the opportunity to teach adults about the problems that our youth is facing today. YAC is a wonderful program for youth to express and show the issues teens are dealing with. This program gives teens a chance to talk. Also it gives us a chance to get people to see the world in our eyes.