In this post:

• Speakers Bureau/Speaking Engagements
• What’s the future of BINGO night?
• Grant money
• 1st Nat’l Native American Conference on Crystal Meth
• Policy papers
• Spring Survey
• VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Speakers Bureau/Speaking Engagements:

Of all of our programs, the Speakers Bureau is the one that is keeping us the busiest. So far, there has been limited diversity amongst our members in doing presentations. Please watch for speaker requests and respond if you would be interested. Time is usually critical in responding so get back to us as quickly as you can.

Upcoming presentations for the Speakers’ Bureau include:

Harlan Pruden and Marlon Fixico will present at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University for “Awareness Days.” Diverse Sexuality and Gender Alliance (D.S.A.G.A.) hosts a celebration in February through March to foster community awareness and advocate on behalf of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered communities. The date of this presentation has been finalized for March 4th from 7-8pm.
Congratulations to Marlon for starting a Washington D.C. two-spirit group. He has also been a faithful participant in NE2SS’s projects, and we look forward to working with the new D.C. group.
Harlan has been invited to present at the inaugural Conference, hosted by the World Pride & Power Organization. The Conference will convene Thursday, February 23, 2008 in Los Angeles, California at the Olympic Collection Conference Center. The theme will be “Unity, Empowerment & Inclusively,”
Kent Lebsock will present on February 23, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza in Albany, NY for New York State’s first annual LGBT POC health summit, UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY: SHIFTING OUR FOCUS. This inaugural event is designed to provide a forum for the articulation of issues and recommendations related to health and human services interventions for LGBT people of color. Scholars, administrators, activists and students has been invited to share their knowledge and skills with the hope that this interchange will result in strategies designed to address the health needs of LGBT people of color.
Harlan Pruden has been invited to present on a special populations’ panel at a recovery symposium on May 1 and 2 in Philadelphia. This symposium is being organized by the Northeast Addiction Technology Transfer Center (NeATTC) Network. The special population’s panel will look at aspects of recovery unique to the two-spirit and Native American population. NE2SS hopes to use this opportunity to unroll our policy paper on alcohol and substance abuse. (See November’s memo for background on the policy paper).
Ben Geboe and Harlan Pruden have agreed to attend the Long Island Pride Parade’s Pre-Breakfast and to do a 20 minute presentation. LI Pride is the 2nd Sunday in June.
Melissa Hoskins has been a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s new First Nations/Indigenous Collective and in that capacity worked on the planning and implementation of programming for the Creating Change Conference, as well as guidelines for the conference presenters and the conference program book. She presented a workshop and led a community discussion along with fellow collective members at the conference. The collective is an on-going, multi-year project, intended to increase visibility and integration of 2spirit people and issues into the larger LGBT movement(s). More information and opportunities for involvement to come.

Sharing Our Paths Program:

January’s Bingo was cancelled due to lack of participation. February’s Bingo was cancelled because NE2SS did not have a person to staff it.

At Feb.’s monthly business meeting there was a discussion as to whether or not NE2SS would continue organizing this event. It was agreed that the Bingo was a valuable event and perhaps Friday evenings were not the best time to host it. It was decided that we should explore the possibility of holding the event on a different evening.

Crystal Meth Grant:

Ben Geboe (along with Curtis and Harlan) did an amazing job putting together the application for funding from the New York State LGBT Health and Human Services Network. The grant is to develop community based prevention and service programs specifically targeting crystal meth abuse. NE2SS will receive its award letter shortly.

NYSDOH Request for Applications:

NE2SS submitted an application to the New York State Department of Health grant. This grant is for programs that address health and human services for LGBT individuals, families and communities. NE2SS thanks Ben Geboe for taking the lead on this grant application. Under his very capable hands, we were able to get the complicated application completed and filed on time. Now it is in the hands of the powers that may be and the Creator.

NYS’ OASAS (Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services) Policy Paper:

An outline has been set for this paper and a draft is currently being pulled together.

First National Conference on Crystal Meth and the Native American Community:

As we have been discussing, this conference aims to build a Native American network that will come together to confront the scourge of crystal meth migration into our communities. The conference is designed to address strategies for the prevention, treatment, recovery, support and advocacy needs of Indigenous peoples in North America, Hawaii, and Alaska Current Native service providers, those wishing to begin providing services, researchers and all others will be invited.

The list of co-sponsors to date is: Indigenous Peoples Task Force, NNAAPC, IRETA (Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions), AICH and the LGBT Community Center of NY. Presently, we have a commitment of approximately $28,000 for this endeavor from the co-sponsors. We continue to seek additional support and this looks very promising. We would also really like to find an airline partner in the hopes of substantially reducing travel costs for the conference.

In an attempt to provide some background information prior to the Conference, NE2SS is working with the Office of Minority Health Resources (OMHR). OMHR is constructing a data base on programs and resources serving the Native community in this area. This information will be a valuable resource for the Conference and anyone working in Native communities on issues of substance abuse.

PPG Membership (Volunteer Needed):

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works with NYC’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to establish the HIV Prevention Planning Group (PPG). The PPG collaborates to develop effective HIV prevention strategies for NYC target populations. NE2SS is participating in the next meeting of the full PPG on February 19th for 1 to 5pm. Harlan Pruden was appointed for two-terms to the PPG by NYC’s Commissioner of Health and has been assigned to the Substance Use Working Group.

If there are members that would like be involved with the PPG, NE2SS needs an alternate to attend PPG meetings if Harlan is unable. There are also other working groups that are ALWAYS looking for members: Criminal Justice, Adolescent, Immigrant, Men-who-have-Sex-with-Men (MSM), and the Women & Children Working Groups. If you are interested in working on one of these groups in developing the NYC Department of Health HIV/AIDS prevention plan please contact Harlan.

HIV/AIDS in the Native American Community Policy Paper:

For some time now, NE2SS has been directly involved in the National Minority AIDS Council’s (NMAC’s) production of a Native American HIV/AIDS Report. The catalyst for the report has been our community’s longtime concern that our issues are not covered in most research and policy applications regarding HIV/AIDS.

As a result, NMAC agreed to assemble a report by and for our people utilizing input primarily from community based organizations. After an entire year of painful discussions on the procedures and process to be used and, quite frankly, some individuals seeming insistence on sabotaging the process, NMAC was forced to suspend the project.

However, NMAC is to be congratulated for sticking with us through all of this process and reconvened the process is January. Harlan and Kent attended the roundtable discussion on January 21 through 23 in Minneapolis to lay the groundwork for this paper. After the two day discussion, the group feels that the paper and the process is on much more solid footing and it will be completed.

Ryan White CARE Re-Authorization Process:

At the meeting in Minneapolis, it was brought to everyone’s attention that the Ryan White CARE Act was up for re-authorization.

The Federal Ryan White Program was enacted in 1990 to improve the quality and availability of care for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals and families affected by HIV disease. Reauthorized three times since its inception—in 1996, 2000, and 2006—the Ryan White Program delivers HIV/AIDS care to over 500,000 people each year.

On January 7, 2008, there was a conference call with the leadership that lead the effort the last time Ryan White was up for re-authorization. NE2SS participated on that call and is ready to assist in this effort.

Community Survey:

At the February’s general meeting, it was discussed the possibility for NE2SS to conduct a community survey. The primary focus of the survey is to get a handle on who our ‘membership’ is (an age range, Nation/tribal affiliation, income range, gender, and sexual orientation …..) and what would they like to see in the way of programming.

Call for Volunteers:

It was also discussed at the February’s general meeting the creation of a ‘wish list’ or an email blast asking for volunteers for the various activities and/or events that NE2SS is working on. Watch for the upcoming emails and if you can pitch to help our community – we hope you will sign up!