The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project was founded in 1988 by the creators of the Academy-Award winning short film, TREVOR.  It is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning young people under 25 years old. The work they are doing is imperative for their community, because research shows that LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Their research has shown that over 1.8 million LGBTQ youth consider suicide each year. 

I think of my sister, Emma. She was 13-years old in January 2018 when she died by suicide. Before her death, she shared with our parents that she had feelings towards girls. After my sister's death and learning these alarming statistics, I felt it was time for me to confront my own feelings and sexuality. Although I felt tremendous pressure about coming out, in December of 2018 I let my family know that I am bisexual, and I no longer wanted to pretend otherwise. Even for someone like me, who comes from a supportive and open-minded family, it was still a struggle for me to accept that I am different and share that with my family and friends. It's difficult to imagine the thousands of children suffering in silence who feel they won't be accepted. The Trevor Project is doing their part to ensure LGBTQ children have a safe space to express themselves. 

The Trevor Project offers 24/7 support and crisis intervention through their text/call line, where they reach several thousand children per year. They also created TrevorSpace, the largest and safest social media space for LGBTQ youth in over 100 countries. Their ultimate goal is to end the LGBTQ+ suicide crisis. They've developed a 3-year plan from 2020-2023 that is available to view here. If you are interested in volunteering with The Trevor Project, you can submit an application here. 

Foster from Within: Peace4Kids Allies for Children With Lived Experience in Foster Care

33 miles from Orange, California will take you to a seemingly distant and different world of South Los Angeles. Behind the curtains of freeways lie historical red-zones built to segregate people of color. Generations of families are kept in poverty, likely because underfunded schools and communities have exasperated violence and disease. Families struggle to overcome generational trauma and as a result, Los Angeles has the largest foster care system in the United States of America. 

I spoke to Miriam Cortez-Cáceres, Program Coordinator of Peace4KidsLA, and a bright, resilient alumna of the Los Angeles foster care system. Peace4Kids is a non-profit organization, founded in 1988, that works as an ally to children and young adults in foster care. They’ve built a youth driven program to support children through choice-driven personal agency. Miriam is especially passionate about the work at Peace4Kids because of her lived experience in the foster system. 

When Miriam was 9 years old, she and her siblings were removed from their parents home because of abuse and alcoholism. Her parents were undocumented, and her mom was a refugee of the Salvadorian Civil War. She says housing, security, poverty and unfair wages influenced the way her parents raised them. She reflects on the experience, 

“I really believe at the core of my heart tried to be as present as possible with us, and as patient as they could. But these overwhelming obstacles in their lives had an effect in their relationship with us so they were addicted to drugs and there was alcoholism and there was a lot of abuse and violence going on in my household and that ultimately landed my siblings and I in the foster care system. So I entered when I was 9 years old, no idea where I was, why I was there. Just kind of waited at a police station for hours and hours. Then I was separated from my family.”

When Miriam was young, she believed she was inherently bad because of her circumstances and the stigma surrounding children in the system. She tells me through research, Peace4Kids learned that Americans believe the media describes children in foster care as victims, survivors, criminals, murderers and drug addicts. She wants people to see children and alumni of the foster care system as unique individuals with their own experiences, needs, talents and abilities. 

“TO OVERCOME PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS, YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE MUST BE SUPER HUMAN.”

“Peace4Kids is a safe space for youth to honor the pain of their past and learn to embrace a future that builds on individual and collective strengths. A home for heroes.”

Peace4Kids is dedicated to creating a program that gives children and young adults the freedom of choice. Children enter foster care and have no advocacy over their home, their caregivers, their social worker, their lawyer, their healthcare providers and more. At Peace4Kids location in Watts, Los Angeles, children have a safe place “to come together, learn from each other and lift each other up.The whole intention is to make sure that young folks discover their voice, find a way to connect to community, and build value added relationships that will add to success.” 

Through their initiative, Heroes Circle, you can donate monthly to support a child transitioning out of foster care. Once you are a member of the Heroes Circle, you will “be invited to exclusive events, receive a limited edition 20 Year Anniversary t-shirt, be inspired by stories of resilience, strength and promise from our Peace4Kids family, and #SeeTheHero in our youth!” 

Below is a clip from my interview with Miriam. Please visit https://www.peace4kids.org/ for more information on their program.