REACH LA NEWS

REACH LA’s Executive Director Martha Chono-Helsley has been selected to attend the British Council and VSO’s Global Xchange program in Durban, South Africa from January 17 to February 6 and in Belfast, Northern Ireland from March 7 to 27.

Global XChange is a UK program comparable to the United States’ Peace Corps program. Typically, Global XChange matches small groups of UK volunteers with peers from one other country. The bilateral teams spend several weeks or months on a volunteer project in the UK in addition to time spent on a project in the home country of the other participants.

The upcoming program marks two firsts: Global XChange’s first multilateral team and the first project in which Americans will participate. In Durban and Belfast, Martha will join four other Los Angeles community activists and peers from the UK, France, South Africa, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda to observe local organizations, exchange best practices, and explore cross-cultural approaches to serving at-risk youth.

“I am incredibly honored to represent Los Angeles and the United States in this once in a lifetime experience. I am very excited to meet our program partners and work on strategies that will bring hope and inspiration to youth all over the world.”

The Durban and Belfast exchanges will be followed by a youth exchange. Between June and December, groups of 18-24 year-olds from each country will live and volunteer for three months in Durban followed by three months in Belfast. The American participants will be nominated by the five LA nonprofits.

“I am delighted to launch Global Xchange in the United States,” said British Council USA Director Sharon Memis. “We are inspired by the individuals selected for Global XChange from Los Angeles; they all do exemplary work with LA youth. We look forward to seeing the results of their time abroad, and to seeing the new international partnerships that emerge from the exchanges.”

To follow the journey of the Multilateral Community XChange participants by reading the daily blog.

It is truly amazing to look at all the work that REACH LA accomplished in 2009: 25 young men attended the Ovahness Men’s Retreat; 200 women and men attended the Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day conference, 300 youth attended the Fire & Ice Skate Party, Legends from West Coast helped us produce six Ovahness Academy Workshops; 25 RLA volunteers ran HIV, STD prevention games at Oakwood’s Glove Affair Dance; three G2G representatives attended Reproductive Freedom Day in Sacramento; two G2G Leaders went to the western region reproductive justice advocacy training with Choice USA; one G2G Leader went to Washington DC for public policy training; one staff person graduated from the HIV Prevention Leadership Institute in Atlanta; three Ovahness Leaders went to NAESM Conference in Atlanta; one staff attended US Conference on AIDS in San Francisco; one staff went to SisterSong Membership Meeting in Washington DC and educated legislators on healthcare reform; 400 people attended the Ovahness Ball 4: L’Acte Finale; staff trained 50 volunteers to run RLA HIV prevention games for 1,300 LA area youth at Macy’s Passport Fashion Inform Night; staff and leaders raised $600 by walking in 2009 AIDS Walk LA; one G2G Leader went to Swaziland with Project Africa; one Ovahness Leader was awarded the Colin Higgins Courage Award; one Ovahness Leader received the Millennium Scholarship for college; staff provided HIV testing and counseling to about 50 people since beginning in July; staff trained 20 peer health advocates who then took over 200 friends and family members to HIV testing; 60 young men and resource volunteers attended the Ovahness Summit to develop personal goals for self and community improvement; six college interns helped develop video projects with RLA Leaders for the newly developed RLA YouTube channel (Ovahness TV); and close to 60 people attended the RLA holiday party where 4 Ovahness Leaders were promoted, two volunteers were acknowledged and 2 individuals and one coalition group were celebrated. One staff member was honored by In the Meantime; another was honored by Connect to Protect Coalition; 4 staff members became certified HIV Testing Counselors; one staff member completed Phemobotomy 1 licensing. One staff member completed graduate school, another complete his BA from CSUDH. And although REACH LA went from 9 staff members to 3 full-time staff at the end of July 2009, RLA continued to produce new projects, events and community resources with help from its many loyal friends, leaders and peer health advocates! Congratulations everyone on all the accomplishments - we made it to 2010 and REACH LA is moving ahead. The Board, Staff, Leaders and volunteers would like to thank our generous supporters who have helped our organization this past year. We are optimistic that better times are ahead.

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, July 25, 2009

Categories are posted on myspace.com/ovahness

MY RECORDED LIFE: QUEER YOUTH LOS ANGELES @ OUTFEST

six compelling new works from the REACH LA queer youth video production program

SATURDAY JULY 12 2008 12 NOON
at the REDCAT Theater
Walt Disney Concert Hall
631 W. Second Street, LA 90012

PRODUCED BY REACH LA
This year’s LGBTQ youth video production program features seven exciting young video-makers working in six different video genres to tell their unique stories of being young and queer in Southern California. Ranging from experimental performance to edgy narrative drama, diaristic expose to a mock-u-mentary fashioned with dolls. All of these videos are united by a need to render visible these close to the bone stories that ask us to look through the lens to the often hidden spectrum of LGBTQ youth.

For more information contact
Gina Lamb 213.622.1650 ex 107 (more…)

Reproductive Freedom Day 2008 was an extraordinary experience! The subject matter at hand was to request the state legislatures to resend their decision on the medi-cal budget cut. Six Girl 2 Girl leaders were expose to influential women of our reproductive justice struggle such as: Assembly Speaker Elect Karen Bass, California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom Belle Taylor-McGhee, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice Executive Director Rocio Cordoba and EMERJ Executive Director Eveleen Shen. G2G was properly instructed on the methods of how to visit a legislature, and what to expect during their visits. The young ladies were educated, motivated, and empowered to do something they lacked experience within but are now eager for the next challenge. G2G Leaders who attended were Jareeka Burdette, 16, Jareeia Burdette, 16, Diamond Stokes, 15, Wyceaceia Randolph, 18, Vanessa Castellar, 16, Lorena Mendoza, 16, REACH LA’s Sr. Peer Health Educator Kafi Battersby and G2G Leadership Coordinator Tara Perry.

The staff of REACH LA hosted an evening of fun, food, shopping, singing and “voguing” at its annual holiday party. REACH LA “familia” from the G2G Leadership, Ovahness and Reel Ghetto Queer workshops stopped by through out the evening. Friends came out to support the Chiapas Women’s Collective by buying handmade belts, pocketbooks, bracelets, purses, tablecloths and clothes from Oakwood School students. Each year the Oakwood students travel to Chiapas and visit the many women who participate in the collective.

Ovahness Program Manager Tyrone Carter, Outreach Coordinator Chris Blades and G2G Young Women’s Program Manager Michelle Horton presented at the National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta, GA on Dec. 3, 2007. The Ovahness program was presented with two other community-based HIV prevention projects from Alaska and Washington. The Ovahness presentation, which consisted of short clips from the documentary “I’m Still Here: Becoming Legendary,” was very well received. Program Manager Tyrone Carter reported that staffer Chris Blades, 21, was bombarded by questions from the audience about his role at REACH LA as a peer educator and the LA/House Ball scene, “the presentation was highlighted by the fact that Chris was featured as part of the documentary and as a community member. People were most curious about his role, being a youth and all. But Chris carried himself as a true professional, regardless of his age.”

LA’s Ovahness Young Men’s Program received a generous grant from the Macy’s Passport Fund on Nov. 29th. Larry Hashbarger, Director of Special Productions presented the check to Tyrone Carter, Manager of the Ovahness Program and Chris Blades, Outreach Coordinator at the Passport Check Presentation ceremony held at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Project consultant Carla Gordon, Social Enterprise Coordinator Sean Milan Harris and Social Enterprise Assistant Frank Armenta attended a jump start social enterprise training day in San Francisco November 15-16, 2007. This training was designed to help Community Technology Foundation grantees with basics in social enterprise, designing a business plan, working with youth workers and product marketing.

Executive Director Martha Chono-Helsley, Ovahness Program Manager Tyrone Carter and Outreach Coordinator Chris Blades presented a program overview at the 2007 United States Conference on AIDS in Palm Springs. This was the first public presentation about the Ovahness Program since its inception in July 2006. The Ovahness team presented on the program design, retention of clients, social marketing components and program challenges as part of the LA County Office of AIDS Programs and Policy’s institute session called “Extreme Makeover – HIV Edition.”