Family Group Leaders and YES Staffers
Photo: B. Bickart

Boating. Hiking. Backpacking. Creative Writing. Ball Games. Meditation. Swimming. Art. Leave it to folks in the Big Apple to lead the way. This summer the Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center http://www.gaycenter.org, has launched a new program through its Youth Enrichment Services (YES) division, a "Summer Community Camp"—seven weeks providing approximately fifty lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth the opportunity to escape to the nearby countryside, build community and learn about HIV prevention.

Meeting first at the Center (located at 208 West 13th Street in Manhattan) the youth participants gather in small "Family Groups" led by trained youth facilitators who are teamed up with a staff person. These Family Groups gather in workshops that cover topics that include identity, relationships, communications skills, conflict resolution, body image, HIV, AIDS, and STD's, assertiveness skills, and health issues.

At the end of the six weeks the participants then spend a week at the Fairview Lake YMCA Camp in Stillwater, New Jersey, with each Family Group living together in a cabin.

Camp provides an opportunity for the groups to continue their discussions and workshops. The setting provides them with opportunities to practice leadership, communication, and relationship skills in real-life situations.

A Group Leader, Angelic, described her role: "I'm there to show the group the right way to do things. Though, I'm sure, the group will have a few things to show me, too. It is important for a family to stick together and that's t I want in my family group."

Camp activities, say Center officials, are designed to provide the youth with opportunities to practice the problem solving and communication skills they learn in the workshops.

Bridget Hughes, director of YES, said, "Many of the activities at camp are not new to young people….Some of the art workshops and writing exercises are familiar to youth who have kept private journals, or written secret poems, or love letters they never shared. At camp we talk about our past experiences and examine what happened and why. Then we try to support one another to create new experiences, to try things over, to use new skills and create an atmosphere of trust. The goal is to live, at least for one whole week, in a community where there are no putdowns, where everyone is valuable, where everyone can work and learn and play, and be joyfully in their bodies, experience the natural world, and have their feelings respected. It's a pretty glorious week—and we think it makes a lasting difference in young people's lives."

In May YES reviewed youth applicants who hoped to serve as leaders for Family Groups, and twelve young people and four alternatives were chosen. In June, these Leaders went on a backpacking trip with YES staff to begin their training.

A Family Group leader, "Teaspoon," says, "There are too many stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender youth, and I hope that by being a leader I can change the way youth are viewed."

Summing up her feelings about the Group Leader weekend, a young woman identified as Christine said, "Every time I go on a retreat I come back with a better understanding of myself and the society around me. I'm really looking forward to spending an entire week away from the city getting to know other young people who are going through the same things I am."

Since 1993 YES has been providing weekend retreats for groups ranging from 20 to 40 youth.

In 1996, thanks to support from the New York City Department of Health, YES began providing weekend retreats which focus on HIV prevention. Summer Community Camp has evolved from these retreats and is also funded by the NYC Department of Health.

Dances at the Fashion Institute of Environment/ Technology

Hundreds of guests enjoyed the New York Center's annual program Dancing on the Bay III held on July 4 in the Fire Island Pines. More regularly, in Manhattan, an autumn season of twice-monthly dances are to be held at Binsky Hall in the Fashion Institute of Environment/ Technology (27th Street & 8th Avenue). Since the first of such dances in 1984, this popular tradition has remained a corner stone of social activities at the Center.

The first dance of the season will commence on September 19 at 9 pm.

Picnics in Central Park