EverGrowing Spring 2022

inside this issue...

WHY I #GIVEBETTER

Letter from the Executive Director

New at the Pride Center in 2022

The History of Juneteenth

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Happy Spring! With each new season, I find myself proclaiming from the“Spring (or insert current season) is my favorite season of the year!” Perhaps it’s because I tend to look for the good in every situation, or I’m an At the beginning of each new year, it is common eternal optimist and eager for what the future may practice to makeit’sa simply resolution.

SomeI have may vow to hold, or maybe because a hard lose weight, eat healthier, spend more time with time picking favorites.

Spring is also the beginning of festival season in Buffalo, and this year we have family and friends or exercise more. I’m sure a couple of great reasons to be excited. As you’ve we’ve all been down that path at one time or undoubtedly seen or heard, the Buffalo Pride Week another withfestival varyingare degrees of success. parade and back and in-person! We’ve humbly suggestPride, an addition to those more alsoI got Jamestown Juneteenth and many other festivals to look forward to this year! common resolutions. My offer is to get more Before we fully kick into festival mode, we’ve involved with Evergreen Health and its affiliates in got our 2nd Annual Spring Appeal arriving in your 2022.

Some ways achieve this are:of our Spring mailboxes later thisto month.

The focus Appeal this year is our THRIVE Wellness program. l Make plans to attend our monthly Lunch & Evergreen’s THRIVE Wellness program helps our Learnmanage Speakertheir Series!

Learnhealth aboutconditions some of patients chronic

Executive Director

by addressing emotional, nutritional, physicallisten and the great work being done at Evergreen, social needs. to inspiring patient stories and discover the THRIVE offers a variety of activities to help our difference you are making, as a donor. patients live their healthiest life: l l l l l

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Join our community of like-minded individuals art therapy and guided imagery by becoming a member smoking cessation groupof the GEM Society – diabetes education our monthly giving group program! heart disease education group Help spread the word about our unique HIV education and support group model care that and welcomes healthyof lunches and works cookingfor demonstrations acupuncture therapy everyone. yoga

Thank you for your generosity and for being a Won’t you join us and help our patients thrive? partner to Evergreen Health and itsand affiliates.

Best Thank you for your generosity for being a partner for to Evergreen Health and 2022! its affiliates. wishes a happy and healthy

Gratefully yours,

Richard J. Ridenour

Ridenour Director Richard J.Executive

Executive Director, Evergreen Health Foundation

Evergreen Health Foundation

The Evergreen Health Foundation Donor Exclusive Speaker Series is a new program highlighting what’s happening in the growing Evergreen community. Each month, a team member from a different department will shed light on the projects they are focusing on and how your support makes those projects possible. Lunch will be provided.

Upcoming LUNCH+LEARN Events Wednesday, June 1 Wednesday, July 6 Wednesday, August 3 Wednesday, September 7

Other Important Dates May 31-June 5 | Buffalo Pride Week June 19 | Juneteenth October 11 | Dining Out For Life

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Why I #GiveBetter

Broderick Cason Community Engagement Manager at Univera Healthcare From Williamsville, NY | Evergreen donor since 1993 What inspired you to give to Evergreen Health?

I’ve been privileged to be affiliated with Evergreen Health for several years. I’m inspired by the support the organization has provided to the community, particularly with HIV and LGBTQ+ populations, especially early on, when services were few and far between.

What do you love most about the organization?

The “won’t take no for an answer” attitude related to service longevity. When many marginalized individuals need support, Evergreen - despite the odds - is always “we can and we will”.

What would you like to see improved or changed?

Any organization can improve in some way, shape or form. It’s a healthy organization that realizes its strengths and weaknesses then continues to know better and to do better; to change when needed to better serve.

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Mel LeMay

Em Bystrak

What are some programs or services that are new to the Pride Center in 2022?

Mel LeMay: Our Trans Youth Program is a new initiative designed to provide care and support to transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary (TGNCNB) youth, and will provide drop-in hours, one-on-one and groups support, linkage and referrals and other support for TGNCNB youth and their families. We now have a new drop-in space to accommodate that program. We are also excited to be bringing back our peer-led Mild to Wild support group around sex and substance use in LGBTQ+ communities.

Em Bystrak: The LGBTQ+ Health and Human Services Initiative has launched two new groups in 2022. One is our Bi+ Community Meetup, which is a mixer for bisexual, pansexual and queer folks to meet with other people like them and connect with the staff at the Pride Center. The second is a meetup for women of trans experience, cisgender women who are part of the queer community and nonbinary people.

What are the goals for the impact of these programs?

ML: The goal of our Trans Youth Program is to address the

immediate needs of youth ages 13-18 of TGNC experience and their families. The program will focus on providing a safe, inclusive and celebratory space for clients and families and will implement programming to reduce isolation, eliminate barriers to care and provide support to link youth and families to an array of community supports. The goal of the Mild to Wild group is to provide social support and a harm reduction approach to care for individuals using meth or having chemsex.

EB: The goal for both of these programs is to expand offerings to parts of the LGBTQ+ community that are historically underserved by LGBTQ+ centers. People who can form relationships with those of the same or different genders (i.e., bisexual people, pansexual people, etc.) often feel unwelcome in both straight and queer spaces. By offering programs specifically for the bi+ community, we are encouraging social connection and letting them know they are included and important to the mission at the Pride Center. Likewise, women and nonbinary people can often be overlooked by LGBTQ+ agencies, as many LGBTQ+ related

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grants specifically focus on men who have sex with men.

By offering programming for queer women and nonbinary people, we are making sure that our agency services everyone who is part of the LGBTQ+ community in WNY. What has been the response from the community to these programs when you have been able to engage in-person or virtually?

ML: The community response has been very positive from clients and providers, and many clients who have engaged through any of our new or returning programming have continued to connect with the Pride Center for services and programming.

EB: The Bi+ Community Meetups have exceeded expectations in attendance, with our Bi+ Day of Visibility kickoff event reaching more than 80 participants. The Women’s and Nonbinary People’s group has had especially positive community feedback from those who are looking for meetup options outside of a bar setting. Looking forward, we’re excited to partner with MOCHA for a joint Women’s and Nonbinary People’s program in late April.

Can you drop any hints about new programs or events on the horizon that have yet to roll out?

ML: One of the things we’re really excited about is bringing back our Trans Wellness Conference!

EB: Moving forward I hope to offer more sober space programming. So often the only queer meeting places in a community are bars or nightclubs, which can be inaccessible for those avoiding alcohol. We also know that the LGBTQ+ community faces disproportionate rates of alcohol or substance use concerns at a population level. I believe the Pride Center can help create community spaces for LGBTQ+ adults who want an alternative to the bar scene.

Mel LeMay (they/them) is Director of Health Education and Outreach and Em Bystrak (they/them) is Engagement and Education Coordinator at the Pride Center.

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1924 | The Society for Human Rights is founded

by Henry Gerber in Chicago. It is the first documented gay rights organization.

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1961 | Illinois becomes the very first state to decriminalize homosexuality by repealing their sodomy laws.

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1970 | The first Gay Liberation Day March is held in New York City; the first “gay-in” is held in San Francisco; the Task Force on Gay Liberation is formed within the American Library Association.

Now known as the GLBT Round Table, this is the oldest LGBTQ+ professional organization in the United States.

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1993 | The first nationwide Dyke March was held in Washington, D.C. with 20,000 women marching.

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2003 | The United States Supreme Court strikes down the “homosexual conduct” law, which criminalizes same-sex sexual conduct.

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2004 | The first legal same-sex marriage in the United States takes place in Massachusetts.

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2012 | In an ABC interview, President Obama becomes the first sitting US president to publicly support the freedom for LGBT couples to marry.

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2018 | The Pentagon confirms that the first transgender person has signed a contract to join the United States military.

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On January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free.

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Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it was not implemented in places still under Confederate control.

As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later.

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Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free by executive decree. This day became known as “Juneteenth” by the newly freed people.

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While Juneteenth wasn’t made a federal holiday until 2021, it has been celebrated in Buffalo for over 40 years.

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The celebrations in Buffalo started on Jefferson Avenue, where many Black businesses were at the time. The holiday is now celebrated at Martin Luther King Jr. Park where the event has more space for food, vendors, entertainment and celebrations as Buffalo has one of the largest Juneteenth celebrations in the country.

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Watch your mailbox for Evergreen Health Foundation’s annual Spring Appeal, or click here to give!

* for Evergreen Health patients with the former People Inc. Primary Care practice and former Aspire of WNY Primary Care practice.

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