12/14/2009 - Ovahness Summit A Success!
Through the pouring rain, these dedicated young men made it to the first Ovahness Summit held at Plummer Park last Saturday. The Summit successfully brought together 50 young men of color to attend a series of roundtable discussions aimed at self empowerment, priority setting and health. Under the direction of Greg Wilson, the event was the brain child of the Ovahness Leaders, who in the last 9 months planned, trained and facilitated all of the roundtable discussions. Resources people from Childrens Hospital Division of Adolescent Medicine - Young United Men, HIV Youth Testing Collaborative and 3P Programs, AIDS Project Los Angeles, AmMassi Center and REACH LA were available to provide information not only about their programs, but were resources on spirituality, social service navigation, housing and transitional living and education. In addition to FREE HIV testing, LA County STD Program provided free screening for chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. To cap off the day the Ovahness Leaders chose Justin Reed Early, author of the autobiographical book “Street Child: An Unpaved Passage” to provide a closing keynote address. The event was sponsored by a grant from the Colin Higgins Foundation. More pictures to come.